Traffic management system (Municipality of Zalău)

By project TRAM

Published on 18 December 2018

Romania

Nord-Vest

About this good practice

The good practice refers to a traffic management system aiming to reduce congestion on the main transport axis in the city of Zalău. The main axis has a length of 3.5 km and includes 11 junctions linked to the traffic management system. Traffic lights on those junctions are synced according to the data collected through inductive loops. All the data is sent to a control center where the model is controlled by the employees of the local administration
The main beneficiary of the system is the municipality of Zalău, its inhabitants and visitors that can now reach the city center easier.
Although in some cases improving traffic flow in a city can lead to unintended consequences – quieter roads can lead to more people driving, thus actually increasing emissions - in the case of Zalău, considering the absence of an external ring, most of the traffic passing through the city center is represented by transit.
There were no other stakeholders involved than the local administration and the ITS provider.

Resources needed

3.5 mil euro where the aproximative financial resources needed for the implementation of the project. 80% of funding needed was covered by the EU under the Regional Operational Program (ROP). Additional funding is supported by the local administration to cover expenses with employees

Evidence of success

Raising the quality of life in the city of Zalău and improving its attractiveness by improving accessibility and traffic conditions on the main transportation axis.
Improving traffic conditions and increasing the accessibility of the central area by reducing congestion, raising transport speed and reducing wait times through the introduction of intelligent transport system.
Reducing environmental pollution with traffic-related noise and reducing the impact on population health .

Potential for learning or transfer

The main positive effect of the traffic management system was seized on the secondary roads while most drivers where using the main axis. Therefore, a large part of inhabitants did not consider that the system brought any improvements on the traffic conditions. This is also because after implementation the numbers of vehicles passing the main axis increased significantly. So even if the traffic management system managed to improve travel time and reduce congestion, with the increasing number of cars using the main axis, these benefits were not so visible anymore
Increased travel speed and decreased congestion supported a greater accessibility of the central area, but also better commuting conditions for employees of the industrial area in the northern part of the city.