Representatives of local administration, transport operators, financial institutions and experts took part, on Thursday, in the 'Iasi Urban Mobility Summit 2026', an event dedicated to urban and metropolitan mobility, modern public transport, digital infrastructure and financing of mobility investments.

Within the 'Iasi Urban Mobility Summit 2026', representatives of public administration, transport operators, financial institutions, urban mobility experts, technology providers and institutional partners held discussions on the development of public transport and the connection of Iasi with the metropolitan area.

The event agenda included topics such as the Iasi 2035 vision, the Iasi Metropolitan Masterplan, the role of public transport as an essential infrastructure of the city, financing urban and metropolitan infrastructure, sustainable public procurement, digitalization of transport services, contactless payment solutions, electric mobility and the use of digital tools for city planning.

'130 people from Romania and abroad have already registered for this mobility forum. The focus is on new technologies in the field of public transport, especially since there is a growing interest in producing hydrogen with photovoltaic panels, i.e. green hydrogen, to reduce pollution in cities. The focus is also on predictability, what measures need to be taken to increase the use of public transport to the detriment of personal vehicles, as well as increasing the level of digitalization and integration between a city's services, so that citizens can save a lot of time in terms of finding information, making payments, etc. We also want to think, for the future, of urban mobility as a service, so that all services are integrated', the director of the Iasi Public Transport Company, Cristian Stoica, told the press.

At the same time, the summit addressed institutional and technical perspectives supported by representatives of the Iasi City Hall, CTP Iasi, the Iasi Metropolitan Public Transport Association (AMTI), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the TUSMC Federation, the Romanian Association for Smart Cities, as well as experts and partners involved in the financing, planning and modernization of public transport.

On this occasion, the mayor of Iasi, Mihai Chirica, drew attention to the fact that Romania continues to have an aging car fleet, with direct effects on air quality and population health.

'Since 2016, we have been saying that we are becoming the garbage dump of cars in Europe. Now we see on the streets an extremely outdated car fleet with extremely serious pollution levels for the health of the population, but also a population that is getting sick at an accelerated rate for this reason. And this is not due to local authorities, but to national authorities who did not know how to say 'stop'. The electrification of the car fleet represents a desire that the European Commission transmitted before 2015 and very clearly outlined the paths to the member states regarding the modernization of the car fleet. We worked for this with our means. The state had to work with its means regarding the imports of polluting cars, finding solutions for the modernization of the car fleet, creating much more viable financing schemes than the 'rubbish' program, so that the car fleet becomes even more modern and more electrified. We are facing a traffic that is on the rise, because the car fleet rate is still dominated by old cars, below the Euro4 norm', declared Mayor Chirica.

The event was held in six working sessions, and the investments made in recent years by the Iasi municipality with NRRP funds to modernize local public transport and increase urban mobility were also presented during the event. AGERPRES(RO - writing by: Daniela Malache; EN - writing by: Bogdan Gabaroi)