Tired of losing hours daily behind the wheel, more and more people are moving closer to their workplaces. It's also encouraging that public transport is gaining popularity. Throughout the week, we are "Green Pro" ("PRO Verde") and will present a series of reports on how we can make the world we live in better.

Last year, Bucharest ranked 8th in the world among the most congested cities. In Europe, Bucharest ranked 4th. Due to this, over 365 days, residents lost 150 hours in traffic due to congestion.

Georgiana Zamfir could no longer tolerate the situation and made a change.

Georgiana Zamfir: "I moved because, even though I lived in a central area, access to my areas of interest, such as my child's school and client meetings, was very difficult. I live very close to the metro now; it takes 7 minutes to get to Victoriei and about 4 minutes to Basarab. The tram is 2 minutes away".

In these conditions, she left her car at home. When she's not using the metro, she takes her bikes out of the garage. She has three. Two for the city and one for the mountains.

Georgiana Zamfir: "I bought one for my son to use in the city. I wanted him to have more gears to make it easier for him since he liked to ride in the parks. But he hasn't used it anymore. I use it now; it's a boy's bike and big for me, but it's okay".

Simona organizes events and is constantly on the move. She doesn't own a car and relies on public transport. Until a few months ago, she lived in a very crowded neighborhood on the outskirts of the capital.

Simona Chiriac: "I started to realize that I was losing a lot of time, whole days on the road. Think about it, I was losing almost 4 hours every day; it became very frustrating at one point. When I left home, I would already feel depressed thinking about leaving at this hour but not knowing when I would arrive. I'm a metro fan".

She also moved, and now everything she needs is in her neighborhood. Recently, there's been a lot of talk about the 15-minute city concept. To keep it short, people should be supported to reach schools, stores, markets, doctors or workplaces quickly.

For this, local administrations should provide the necessary infrastructure, and new neighborhoods should be built according to this model.

Grațian Mihăilescu, founder of Urbanize HUB: "It's very important to understand how many cars we have in the city and how much they pollute. Data and data analysis are essential. A city develops not only through administration, but also through the impact of private developers and real estate developers on how sustainable a city can be".

All major European cities have developed significant infrastructure in recent years for those who want to use bicycles. In our capital, those who choose this option are still pioneers.

In a few minutes, several cars decided to take a shortcut, illegally, on the bike lane. One driver, for example, only moved into the correct lane after noticing he was being filmed. Another seemed more annoyed that a cyclist was in front of him.

Young woman: "If there are bike lanes, it's okay; if there are no lanes, it's horrible!".

Marius Gorgan, Bucharest bike traffic: "I was telling you about the lack of bike lanes; there are none in Bucharest. The one on Victoriei is closed on weekends; you are not allowed to bike there. On Saturdays and Sundays, we are almost at 0 km in the city".

National legislation complicates things even more, especially for children who are not allowed to bike on the road until they are 14 years old.

Marius Gorgan, Bucharest bike traffic: "I used to take my 6-year-old child to kindergarten by bike when it moved 7 km from home. By car, it would take at least an hour. I took him by bike every day and told him he couldn't ride on the road or the bike lane. He asked me: 'Why can't I, Dad? Will the police take me?". And I explained that yes, they would".

In the past year, the number of people using public transport has increased.

According to the Bucharest Transport Company, in April, 12% more monthly passes were sold compared to the same period last year. The increase is even higher for tickets, up by 25% compared to 2023.