Summer 2020 in Budapest: the mayor to create beach atmosphere on the Danube embankment

Gergely Karácsony, the lord mayor of the Hungarian capital, spoke about this in a radio interview and shared details about his plans concerning the creation of a universal parking system, car-free zones, and a so-called traffic jam fee he wants to introduce.

He said that the council of Budapest would like to raise wages for the employees of the BKV, and for that, there is enough money in the budget of Budapest. The rate of the increase will be around 8-10 pc. About his promise enabling children under 14 to travel on BKV for free, he said that it would cost a lot, but they would like to realise it, Index reported.

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The reporter asked Mr Karácsony whether nominating István Vágó, a former Hungarian TV showman and a politician of the Democratic Coalition, to the supervisory board of the BKV contradicts his promise that Budapest will not fall prey to the opposition parties. The lord mayor said that Mr Vágó has the relevant experience and is not a member of the management of the company. He added that they would take 10 billion HUF as loan

for the reconstruction of the Chain Bridge, 

but they will not like to use the full sum (53 billion HUF) the former leadership demanded from the European Investment Bank because Budapest’s debt is already too high.

About the Biodome, he said that the city leadership is measuring the alternatives on how to finish it because its completion

needs a further 20 billion HUF,

but neither Budapest nor the government would like to finance the project.

He said that the diesel cars banned from Western cities have already started to flow into the Hungarian car market, so they would like to start a social debate about introducing a so-called traffic jam fee and creating low-emission zones in the city. He confirmed that

they plan to ban the cars from the Pest side embankments for a couple of weeks before August 20.

There, they plan to organise cultural events and would like to create a summer beach atmosphere.

Finally, he talked about creating a universal parking system in Budapest. On that issue, the city council already took the first steps.

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