During the European Mobility Week 2017, we introduced a new communication platform with the headline slogan “Let Yourself be Taken Away”, whose purpose is to promote and raise awareness on sustainable mobility. Citizens and visitors of Ljubljana are being asked to move about the city on foot, by bike, by public transport, or use any other environmentally friendly  mode of transport.

Since 2007 sustainable development of Ljubljana brought the highest number of changes in the right direction in the field of sustainable mobility. We have reached and surpassed numerous goals which we have set for ourselves in the strategic documents based on the Ljubljana Vision 2025.

With many concrete measures based on the Sustainable Urban Mobilty Plan of  the City of Ljubljana (2012) we are following the main goal, and that is, among other things, to change traveling habits and improve the modal share in a way that one third of the journeys is made by public transport, one third by bicycle and on foot, and one third by personal vehicles. In 2017 we upgraded the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan of the City, with which, in cooperation with different stakeholders and based on achievements to date, we are redefining goals for an even higher quality of life in Ljubljana.

One of the more visible key measures of the transport policy for the creation of a high-quality public space in the centre of the city is the renovation of the main traffic route Slovenska Street into an area friendlier towards pedestrians, cyclists and city bus users. It is designed in line with the principles of shared traffic space with a line of trees running along its side and new street furniture.

After the introduction of the changed traffic regime on Slovenska Street the black carbon concentrations decreased by as much as 70%, while the concentrations on surrounding streets have not risen. As a consequence the level of noise from private vehicles decreased by about 6 dB.

Each individual can contribute to the improvement of the quality of living with his own actions – by traveling on foot, by bicycle, public transport or car, which runs on environmentally friendly fuel and carries several passengers. The biggest achievement is the awareness of citizens and visitors to Ljubljana who act in this spirit.

Providing suitable and appropriate cycling and pedestrian surfaces with ERDF co-financing (ITI)

The set-up of the cycling network of the City of Ljubljana is supported by the ITI mechanism, which is partially financed by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Republic of Slovenia (RS). The share of the City of Ljubljana for the set-up of cycling and pedestrian surfaces is 20% of eligible investment costs, and the rest of the eligible costs are co-financed in the ratio of 80% from European Union funds (ERDF) and 20% from the budget of the Republic of Slovenia. As the construction of the road surface is generally not the subject of the tendered project but is highly significant for the traffic and aesthetic design of individual roads, the funds are entirely provided by the City of Ljubljana.
You can read more about project co-financing on the European cohesion policy website.

Inclusion into the Integrated Territorial Investment programme

The City of Ljubljana has, based on the invitation of the Association of Urban Municipalities of Slovenia to submit an application for co-financing of sustainable mobility operations with the ITI mechanism within the framework of the »Operational Programme for the Implementation of the EU Cohesion Policy 2014-2020«, 4th priority axis »Sustainable consumption and production of energy and smart grids«, thematic objective 4 »Supporting the shift towards a low-carbon economy in all sectors«, priority investment 4 »Promoting low-carbon strategies for all types of territories, in particular for urban areas, including the promotion of sustainable multimodal urban mobility and adequate mitigation and adaptation measures«, submitted the set-up of cycling and pedestrian surfaces alongside four important roads in Ljubljana, namely, Drenikova ulica, Vodnikova cesta, Dunajska cesta and Poljanska cesta.
Within the framework of the Integrated Territorial Investment programme for the attainment of funds in the area of sustainable mobility the City of Ljubljana is reconstructing existing and run-down cycling and pedestrian paths and constructing new ones in areas where there are none. In addition, we have taken on the complete construction of the road surface. The cycling and pedestrian surfaces and the road surface are designed and constructed in line with the Transport Policy of the City of Ljubljana and guidelines of the Ministry of Infrastructure. Within the framework of the renovation and in line with the Transport Policy the City of Ljubljana has committed itself to improving the existing cycling infrastructure and building a new one.
The purpose of renovating individual roads is to promote non-motorized traffic in the area of the City of Ljubljana.

Renovation aims

The aims of the renovation are:

• higher share of cyclist in traffic within the whole municipality,
• higher share of pedestrians in traffic within the whole municipality,
• decreasing the number of traffic accidents,
• promoting sustainable mobility, improving the quality of air in cities,
• better functional connectivity between different parts of the city.

Considering the above listed aims the key element of the investment is primarily providing suitable and appropriate cycling and pedestrian surfaces which contribute to the development of sustainable mobility and with it the improvement of air quality and better functional connectivity between different parts of the city; improvement of the living space quality in the urban environment; increasing traffic safety and consequentially the appeal of the space for citizens and visitors alike.