The North-West Regional Development Agency, as the Managing Authority for the North-West Regional Program 2021-2027 (REGIO North-West), publishes today, July 14, 2023, the Applicant's Guide for the call for projects 481.B – Increased use of public transport and other environmentally friendly forms of urban mobility (Urban Mobility).

The call for projects is competitive, and funding applications can be submitted through the MySMIS 2021/2021+ computer system during: August 16, 2023, 10:00 a.m. – February 15, 2024, 10:00 a.m.

Download – Applicant's Guide PRNV/2023/481.B/1 – Increased use of public transport and other environmentally friendly forms of urban mobility (Urban Mobility).

Unlike the call for projects 481.A, which is dedicated to county seat municipalities, the call related to guide 481.B is addressed to administrative-territorial units of the type of municipalities, other than county seat municipalities, cities and communes included in the related Functional Urban Areas the county seat municipalities and respectively adjacent to them. The main differences between the two calls are the eligibility of applicants and the value of the calls and the minimum and maximum values of eligible projects under the calls.

There are three categories of MANDATORY ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES who can benefit from funding within the projects related to this call:

1. Development of infrastructure for non-motorized travel (cycling and walking);
2. Development and optimization of public transport systems;
3. Development of sustainable urban mobility corridors.

In the first category of ELIGIBLE COMPULSORY ACTIVITIES (TYPE A), which aims to develop the infrastructure for non-motorized travel, includes the following:

1. Construction/modernization/expansion of bicycle tracks/trails
2. Construction/expansion of pedestrian and semi-pedestrian areas and routes
3. Creation/modernization/expansion of bike-rental/bike-sharing systems

The second category of ELIGIBLE COMPULSORY ACTIVITIES (B) dedicated to the development and optimization of public transport systems includes the following eligible activities:

1. Purchasing and/or equipping means of transport with zero emissions;
2. Development of the necessary infrastructure for public transport with zero emissions

Within the third category of ELIGIBLE COMPULSORY ACTIVITIES (C) dedicated to the development of sustainable urban mobility corridors include the following activities:

1. Development of dedicated lanes for public transport;
2. Modernization/rehabilitation of tram lines;
3. Construction/modernization/extension of the trolleybus network;
4. Reconfiguring the road infrastructure by developing lanes for prioritizing public urban passenger transport, as well as by developing the infrastructure for non-motorized travel;
5. Construction/rehabilitation/modernization of the road infrastructure primarily used by public urban passenger transport, in order to develop routes dedicated to it as a priority

The applicant has the obligation to include in the funding application at least one mandatory activity from those provided in the three categories listed in the lines above. Any of those activities may be accompanied by the following COMPLEMENTARY ACTIVITIES:

1. Making the transport infrastructure accessible for all categories of people;
2. Placement of elements to improve road safety for all categories of road users (e.g. placement of vertical and horizontal signage, speed limiters, modernization of pedestrian crossings, creation of facilities for people with reduced mobility, for the blind or hard of hearing, installation of signs of information, orientation indicators, etc.);
3. Arrangement/installation of alignment vegetation (alignment of trees and shrubs, creation of greening) and urban furniture, public lighting.

Amongst COMPLEMENTARY ACTIVITIES (TYPE D), which cannot be financed individually, only in association with the mandatory eligible activities in categories A, B and C, the following are registered:

1) Development/modernization/expansion of traffic management systems, as well as any intelligent transport systems (ITS) and "mobility as a service" applications;

2) Complementary works located only in the body of those urban streets, cycle paths and/or pedestrian areas/routes.

The North-West Regional Program 2021-2027 proposes interventions for the development of research, development, innovation and digitization capacity, increasing the energy performance of the existing public and residential building fund, capitalizing on degraded spaces at the city level, sustainable urban mobility, investments in the network of county roads and in the educational infrastructure, as well as actions to capitalize on the cultural, touristic and spa potential.

In the financial year 2021-2027, public authorities and institutions, the business environment, the academic and research environment and NGOs can obtain funding.

The Northwest Regional Program benefits from a total allocation of 1,437,252,471 euros.

• Priority 1: A competitive region through innovation, digitization and dynamic enterprises - total value: 327,904,956 euros
• Priority 2: A region with smart localities - total value: 60,332,872 euros
• Priority 3: A region with environmentally friendly localities - total value: 210,666,112 euros
• Priority 4: A region with sustainable multimodal urban mobility – total value: 305,155,751 euros
• Priority 5: An accessible region - total value: 184,978,708 euros
• Priority 6: An educated region - total value: 77,386,100 euros
• Priority 7: An attractive region - total value: 210,363,134 euros
• Technical assistance – total value: 60,464,838 euros

More information about the Northwest Regional Program for 2021-2027 is available here, and the program can be consulted here.