Gergely Karácsony’s firm position is that the number of vehicles in Budapest should be reduced. The mayor also found a concrete solution on how to implement the idea. He plans to close the lower quay of Pest and ban cars from the Chain Bridge, as this will make the capital much more livable and greener.

Gergely Karácsony has had similar anti-car measures for many before. In the spring of 200, a bicycle lane was set up on the Grand Boulevard almost overnight, where journey times increased2. Several renovations – Blaha Lujza Square, the Chain Bridge and the embankment of Pest – were carried out at the same time, creating huge traffic jams throughout the city.

The mayor suggested that anyone who bothers the wait get out of his vehicle.

Christmas Gerge says she claims: she takes everyone’s opinion. Motorists, on the other hand, think differently about this, saying that the mayor’s goal is to make it impossible to get around Budapest.

Origo also wrote that

the mayor deliberately incites motorists, cyclists, pedestrians against each other and would make Budapest uninhabitable in two steps.

According to Gergely Karácsony, there are professional arguments in favor of making the Chain Bridge free, there is a great need for the car to close the quay or, as the mayor says, to open it in front of pedestrians. In contrast, several other studies show that a majority rejects planned opinions. The Index surveyed thirty thousand people in one day and two-thirds of them disagreed with Gergely Karácsony’s idea. But advocacy organizations are also protesting.

Asking whether ideological or professional considerations are driving legal Christmas, the representative of the Hungarian Automobile Club, Zsuzsanna Tóth, said:

there is no professional basis for closures. There is no social dialogue either, the negotiations are only formal. According to Zsuzsanna Tóth, the plans are ill-considered and have serious consequences, and traffic in Budapest could be completely paralyzed.

“Even today, people drive on the quay, downtown and nowhere for hobbies, the one who has a business there goes. And entrepreneurs in particular are very firmly arguing that there will be no one to renovate the buildings, no one to deliver to the various catering units, the boats. Taxi drivers are already saying they are reluctant to take the ride in VII-VIII. district” – He told.

Car decontamination of the quay and the Chain Bridge means that there will be bigger traffic jams in Budapest in the future. According to experts, the north-south connection of Budapest would disappear, and the quality of life of the residents in the area would deteriorate due to the diverted traffic, not to mention the increase in air pollution.

Highlight image: Illustration