5. Substantiation Study on transport and communications

According to the last traffic census (2015), most of the national roads that connect the cities in the county (Cluj-Napoca, Dej, Turda) have already reached congestion levels that imply the need of highways. The projects for such high-speed roads (Nădășelu-Zalău-Oradea, DN1-A3, Cluj-Dej) were delayed for different reasons. The railway infrastructure is poor and underused for metropolitan and inter-city mobility.

The metropolitan public transport network will be expanding soon to the 2nd circle of communes around Cluj-Napoca with modern buses. These buses use, however, the existing roads that are already congested, making public transport unattractive. In this context, a combined subway and metropolitan train line are under planning.

Cluj International Airport will reach three million passengers in 2020, becoming the 2nd biggest in Romania, after Bucharest. Its infrastructure has been designed for a lower capacity, so that urgent expansion investments must be implemented by the local authorities.

The infrastructure and culture for the safe use of alternative means of transportation is lacking in most TAUs, thus maintaining a high car ownership rate.