Magyar CIVINET presents at the Uzhhorod Urban Mobility Forum 2025
Image by City Council Uzhhorod
At the invitation of CIVINET Ukraine, Antal Gertheis, Managing Director of Mobilissimus and Secretariat of Magyar CIVINET, delivered two presentations at the Uzhhorod Urban Mobility Forum 2025. His contributions focused on practical experiences with sustainable urban mobility planning (SUMP) in small and medium-sized Hungarian cities, and on cycling network planning methods applied in Hungary and Romania.
The forum also featured insights from Hungarian representatives. Dániel Rádai, Deputy Mayor of Budapest’s 8th District (Józsefváros), attended in person to present the district’s participatory public space renewal projects and Bendegúz Kovács of BKK (Budapest Centre for Transport) joined online to share details of the demand-responsive transport (DRT) service introduced under the DREAM_PACE project.
Beyond the usual exchange of experiences with the professional community in a neighbouring country, our participation was particularly significant. Although Transcarpathia is considered the safest part of Ukraine, security concerns and the lack of flight connections meant that only a handful of international experts were present. This gave us the opportunity to engage in numerous discussions with Ukrainian professionals from across the country and from other parts of Europe, including our long-standing partner, the Transcarpathian nature conservation NGO FORZA, as well as members of the ethnic Hungarian community in the region.
From both official and informal reports, our Ukrainian colleagues provided insight into how they are working to shape a vision for the future and take steps toward sustainable urban mobility, while also managing the day-to-day struggles that have persisted since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion.
Local governments are directing a significant share of their resources to national defence, making development spending seem like an unaffordable luxury. At the same time, mobilization has led to labour shortages in the sector, even though men responsible for essential services are exempt from conscription. While the relative security of western cities such as Uzhhorod and Lviv allows some space for development planning, in the east, closer to the frontline, daily survival increasingly takes precedence.
Measures to prioritise accessibility and inclusive design
From an urban mobility perspective, one of the most striking developments during this period is the prioritization of accessibility and inclusive design. With many veterans returning from the front with disabilities, cities are implementing targeted programmes, often in consultation with stakeholder organizations, to make key public institutions and pedestrian routes accessible.
Public transport is also being strengthened with affordable, domestically manufactured low-floor buses (Electron), while the private sector contributes through measures such as Uklon’s introduction of sponsored, accessible ride-sharing services. Cycling, being affordable and less dependent on fuel or road conditions, remains a resilient transport option, even in the most difficult circumstances. This underscores the importance of initiatives such as Bikes4Ukraine, which our colleagues also support.
The mobility situation in Uzhhorod, the host city, is shaped by its role as one of Ukraine’s western gateways since the airspace closure following the invasion. During the forum, a major milestone was reached with the handover of the dual-gauge railway line (European standard and broad gauge) between Chop and Uzhhorod. Financed by CEF and EIB as part of the IronLink project, the upgrade enables the launch of a direct rail service to Budapest.
The number of people living in the city and the number of vehicles on the roads have increased as people have moved to safer places within the country, putting great pressure on the city's road network and parking system. Based on what we have seen, this can only be managed to a limited extent for the time being, although the first steps have already been taken with the introduction of paid parking in certain areas. The generous design of the main roads and the often wastefully wide road surfaces are contrasted by the cycling network and the mixed condition of the sidewalks (practically it has a different design and condition in front of each house), extremely narrow in many places, although the downtown pedestrian zone and footbridge are very popular.
In terms of public transport, a significant step forward since our previous visit has been the local government's acquisition of its own bus fleet in 2018, taking over the leading role from the minibus services still operated by private companies.
We are confident that we will soon be able to return to Uzhhorod under calmer circumstances, and that security concerns will be completely replaced by plans for reconstruction and further development.
Author: Magyar CIVINET Titkárság
