But that’s impossible! We all know that cars=economic growth and, as total idiots with internet access like Andrei Caramitru post daily on FB, that the German economy is now in recession because of the actions of ecofascists against the likes of BMW and that these ecofascists riding bikes and e-scooters are coming to our economy too!!! /s
Edit: holly hell, I just noticed the numbers presented in the article by reading the comments that were not federated to my instance. 6 minutes a day?!? That’s just impossible!!!
No, it’s not heaven on earth, they really got it very wrong. No, this is not village level traffic at all, and all the main arteries are congested almost all the time, even in non-working days. The only times when roads are miraculously free are when there’s a big holiday like Easter or New Year’s Eve, when people basically party all night long, some even back in their hometowns, so they no longer do anything the next day, at least in the first part of it. Don’t believe me? Check out the traffic filter at this very hour on Google Maps (it’s Saturday 11:15 PM at the moment of me editing this comment).
If you’re traveling through Bucharest by car, take at least 1 hour to go from one place to another, especially if you’re going from the outskirts to the city center and back. Also take in mind the time you take to find a parking spot since these are hard to find (you’ll find a paid one easily though, those are like kryptonite to most of the drivers, who would rather park their car illegaly, wherever they can).
If you plan to travel by bike, don’t!!! The traffic is terrible and your life is too precious. Outside the bigger parks (Tineretului, Herăstrău/Regele Mihai I, Carol etc.), the areas where it’s safe to cycle are few and spread out. There’s no comprehensive bike lane network like you see in Paris or in big German cities.
If you plan to travel by foot, outside the touristy areas the streets are absolutely filled to the brim by cars, puddles form on pedestrian crossings when it rains (or like now, when the snow melts) and sometimes you have to take the road in order to go through. It’s better now than it was 5 years ago, but it’s still a hit-or-miss. Public transit is decent though, compared to other cities (despite other people in my city hating it). English signage is lacking lots of the times, but it gets you pretty much wherever you want to go (and we even have some night lines). Use Google Maps or InfoTB to get around or, if you love open source, try Bimba or other FOSS apps using the Transitous API.
But that’s impossible! We all know that cars=economic growth and, as total idiots with internet access like Andrei Caramitru post daily on FB, that the German economy is now in recession because of the actions of ecofascists against the likes of BMW and that these ecofascists riding bikes and e-scooters are coming to our economy too!!! /s
Edit: holly hell, I just noticed the numbers presented in the article by reading the comments that were not federated to my instance. 6 minutes a day?!? That’s just impossible!!!
No, it’s not heaven on earth, they really got it very wrong. No, this is not village level traffic at all, and all the main arteries are congested almost all the time, even in non-working days. The only times when roads are miraculously free are when there’s a big holiday like Easter or New Year’s Eve, when people basically party all night long, some even back in their hometowns, so they no longer do anything the next day, at least in the first part of it. Don’t believe me? Check out the traffic filter at this very hour on Google Maps (it’s Saturday 11:15 PM at the moment of me editing this comment).
If you’re traveling through Bucharest by car, take at least 1 hour to go from one place to another, especially if you’re going from the outskirts to the city center and back. Also take in mind the time you take to find a parking spot since these are hard to find (you’ll find a paid one easily though, those are like kryptonite to most of the drivers, who would rather park their car illegaly, wherever they can).
If you plan to travel by bike, don’t!!! The traffic is terrible and your life is too precious. Outside the bigger parks (Tineretului, Herăstrău/Regele Mihai I, Carol etc.), the areas where it’s safe to cycle are few and spread out. There’s no comprehensive bike lane network like you see in Paris or in big German cities.
If you plan to travel by foot, outside the touristy areas the streets are absolutely filled to the brim by cars, puddles form on pedestrian crossings when it rains (or like now, when the snow melts) and sometimes you have to take the road in order to go through. It’s better now than it was 5 years ago, but it’s still a hit-or-miss. Public transit is decent though, compared to other cities (despite other people in my city hating it). English signage is lacking lots of the times, but it gets you pretty much wherever you want to go (and we even have some night lines). Use Google Maps or InfoTB to get around or, if you love open source, try Bimba or other FOSS apps using the Transitous API.