Archive: September 2025

The third All-Ukrainian Urban Mobility Forum was held in Uzhhorod on September 3-5, 2025. This event brought together over 200 participants to discuss the future of transport and mobility in Ukraine. The event brought together industry experts, representatives of central government, local government, business, and public organizations.

Photo: Uzhhorod City Council

This year, the focus of the forum was on sustainable urban development , adapting transport infrastructure to today's challenges and harmonizing it with European standards. Participants discussed the importance of barrier-free access, the implementation of accessible transport, the development of electric transport and urban logistics of the future.

Kateryna Lozovenko, project coordinator of the NGO “Vision Zero” , also took part in the forum. She participated in a panel discussion on the topic “Electric transport in Ukraine: what next?” During her presentation on harmonizing approaches to planning electric public transport in Ukraine and the EU, she noted:  

Ukrainian regulations governing tram and trolleybus traffic are too restrictive and prescriptive. They hinder the development of electric public transport and mobility, as many Ukrainian cities (especially historical ones, [ed. e.g. Lviv]) will never be able to build a new tram line in the center or connect existing lines. The State Traffic Regulations clearly regulate distances from buildings, indicate excessive turning radii for trams, and make it impossible for trams and trolleybuses to move together in the same lane. This approach to design completely eliminates the work of a professional engineer.

Photo: Uzhhorod City Council

In addition to the regulatory framework, in her presentation, Kateryna Lozovenko also drew attention to the need to change the financial model for infrastructure modernization:

We need to stop sending cities for loans, we need state support and finding other sources of co-financing. In EU countries, these are special funds. They are unavailable to Ukraine, however, a co-financing model using frozen Russian assets could work for us.

Photo: Natalia Volyk

In general, the presentation caused a rather lively discussion in the hall. The forum participants agreed that Ukraine, first of all, needs to develop fundamentally new construction standards for the design of tram and trolleybus systems, bring the standards closer to European (for example, Czech) standards. And also look for opportunities to implement other financial instruments: grants, co-financing from other sources, public-private partnerships, etc.

Organizers of the event: Uzhhorod City Council, KP "Uzhhorod Municipal Transport", CIVINET Ukraine, Lviv City Council, City Institute.

For reference:

Research “ Comparative analysis of regulations for trams and trolleybuses in Ukraine and the EU ”

The study “Comparative analysis of legislative and technical standards for electric public transport in Ukraine and EU countries” was conducted during 2024–2025 by the public organization “Vision Zero” (Ivano-Frankivsk). Authors: Anton Gagen and Viktor Zagreba.

The purpose of the study:
to compare the current Ukrainian standards for planning and designing electric public transport infrastructure (trams and trolleybuses) with the standards of the European Union, in particular the Czech Republic and Italy, and, in certain aspects, Poland and Switzerland. The study was conducted to identify outdated and overly restrictive Ukrainian standards inherited from the Soviet period and hindering the modernization and reconstruction of transport infrastructure in Ukraine.
Information for the comparative analysis was collected from Ukrainian and European legislative and technical standards. The comparative analysis includes Ukrainian standards compared with the standards of the Czech Republic and Italy as the main countries for comparison, and Switzerland and Poland were used as additional countries. The study included a comparison of requirements for tram tracks, power supply, contact network, and rolling stock.

Conclusion:
The study showed that the Ukrainian regulatory framework governing electric public transport remains heavily influenced by outdated Soviet-era standards. These outdated standards are fundamentally different from the flexible, targeted approaches used in the European Union based on the principles of target or parametric methods of standardization in construction. At the same time, these outdated standards contradict the newer provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Construction Standards”, which states that parametric and target methods should be preferred in standardization, rather than the prescriptive method. The shortcomings and unjustified restrictions in the existing regulatory framework are not marginal or random; they are systemic in nature and require a comprehensive review, not a gradual adjustment.

Key findings:
The analysis identified four main categories of regulatory discrepancies between Ukrainian and European practices:

1. Unjustified prohibitions:
   Ukrainian regulations often prohibit the use of internationally proven solutions – designs and methods that are widely used in EU countries – without scientifically sound reasoning. This limits the search for solutions and hinders the implementation of safe and effective practices that have already been tested in Europe. 
2. Unjustified prescriptions:
   Many Ukrainian standards contain overly strict technical requirements – for example, specifying exact radii, materials or elements of the contact network – without reference to measurable results. Such regulations do not contain a clear justification or orientation to the final result, which limits engineering flexibility. 
3. Excessive safety and capacity requirements:
   Infrastructure often has to meet inflated safety or capacity standards, which leads to over-design and excessively high project costs. This all-or-nothing approach effectively blocks economically balanced or phased development strategies that are otherwise viable. 
4. Template-based, out-of-context design:
   The current system forces engineers to apply predefined Soviet-era templates instead of conducting project-specific analysis.
   As a result, infrastructure design is disconnected from local needs, spatial constraints, and modern technologies.

To view the overview, please click on the image below and you will be taken to the PDF file:

About the project:

The materials were developed within the framework of the project “Reform of Electric Public Transport of Ukraine”, which was implemented by the NGO “Vision Zero” from August 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025. The project was implemented in cooperation with the Association “Energy Efficient Cities of Ukraine” within the framework of grant support from the European Climate Foundation. Responsibility for the information and views expressed in the materials lies with the authors of the study. The European Climate Foundation cannot be held responsible for any use of the information presented in the studies and does not necessarily share the opinions, assessments and conclusions given in them.