The project that would have banned the circulation and parking of supply and courier vehicles in Bucharest during peak hours was removed from the agenda of the General Council at Wednesday’s meeting.
Mayor Ciprian Ciucu decided to rethink the regulation after discussions in the Transport Committee of the CGMB and after a series of possible effects of the measure that had not been taken into account were pointed out. „We had some discussions yesterday and even today with the employers, and I would like us to take another look at this project because there might be some effects that we did not anticipate,” explained Ciucu, quoted by Buletin de București.
The project is expected to be modified and then return to the General Council for a vote.
In its initial form, the circulation and parking on public roads of vehicles used for the supply of goods or for courier services would have been prohibited between 7:00-9:00 and 17:00-19:00.
The project targets vehicles involved in the transportation, delivery, loading, or unloading of goods intended for economic operators, institutions, or other legal entities.
In the case of courier services, the measure refers to vehicles used for the collection, transportation, and delivery of parcels, documents, or goods, regardless of whether these services are provided for a fee or for their own activities.
The project included a number of exceptions. The restrictions would not apply to:
- vehicles involved in emergency and public order interventions
- those used by structures in the defense, public order, and national security system
- vehicles intervening to remedy breakdowns, incidents, or emergencies in public utility networks and services.
Also exempted would be:
- transport of medicines, blood products, organs, tissues, and cells of human origin intended for transplantation
- transport of sanitary materials and medical consumables necessary for urgent interventions or treatments.
The list of exceptions also includes catering services and transports of perishable, refrigerated, or frozen food products carried out with refrigerated vehicles.
Drivers of vehicles benefiting from these exceptions will be required to present, upon request by the constating agent, documents proving the nature of the transport and that it falls within one of the situations provided for in the project.
Violation of the ban would be considered an offense and would be sanctioned with fines ranging from 3,000 to 5,000 lei. Offenses would be ascertained and penalties applied by local police officers.
If adopted, the decision was supposed to take effect starting January 1, 2027.
City Hall cites heavy traffic in the Capital
The initiators of the project argue the necessity of the measure due to the high level of congestion in Bucharest and the impact that supply, courier, and sanitation activities have on traffic.
These operations are mainly carried out with medium and large-sized vehicles that require frequent stops and parking.
According to the approval report, regulating these categories of traffic participants could help streamline traffic by moving logistical operations outside the peak traffic hours.
The document also mentions that similar measures are already applied in certain areas of other municipalities in the country, including Cluj, Timișoara, Sibiu, Craiova, Satu Mare, Oradea, Constanța, and Brașov. In these localities, time windows or other forms of temporary restriction are used to avoid logistical flows during peak hours.
Last year, PMB wanted to remove waste and delivery vehicles from traffic for 6 hours a day. But it did not come to a vote.