Romania’s Timisoara will have a new means of public transportation starting this spring: boats on the Bega canal. The boat rides will be free.

The local authorities have recently completed the arrangement of the canal’s banks and the first two boats are scheduled to arrive at the end of January or the beginning of February.

“It is the municipality’s job to acquire seven boats. They will be used for public transportation and I think that Timisoara will be the only city in Romania that will have five means of public transportation: trams, buses, trolleys, bicycles, and boats. The boats will start running this spring,” said Nicolae Robu, the Mayor of Timisoara, cited by local Mediafax.

The public transportation by water will be free for a period of five years as stated in the project, which was financed with EU funds.

The project started in June 2012 and was finalized in December 2015. It focused on arranging the Bega canal’s banks on ten kilometers, throughout the city. It also included the city’s first playground for children with disabilities. A few thousand trees, shrubs, and flowers have been planted on the canal's banks.

The local authorities also arranged nine bike stops, walkways, bike trails, benches and garbage bins, nine boat stops, two emergency ramps for emergencies, ecological toilettes, and floating pontoons.

The total value of the project amounted to RON 42.8 million (EUR 9.5 million), VAT included, of which RON 11.3 million (some EUR 2.5 million) represented the boats’ cost. The money came from European funds.

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Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com