Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, is a city rich in character, colour and history, which harmoniously combines elements of its past with the modern influences of western European cities. Cobblestone streets, hipster hotels, hidden cafes and a vibrant cultural scene make the city a popular place to live.
In recent years, the city has been striving to become even more modern and greener by implementing initiatives such as improving public transport, promoting eco-friendly practices and investing in sustainable urban development projects.
Tbilisi was among the very first cities to join the EBRD’s Green Cities family. The Bank and the City of Tbilisi, with funding from Czechia, joined forces to develop a Green City Action Plan (GCAP) and identify the city’s environmental priorities.
“With the help of the EBRD, we created the Green City Action Plan, which comprises a list of initiatives to be implemented between 2017 and 2030,” says Giorgi Sharkov, General Director of Tbilisi Transport Company (TTC). “One of the most important aspects is the renewal of the bus fleet. This initiative aims to reduce CO2 emissions by 45,000 tonnes a year, and we are gradually implementing these solutions.”
From yellow to blue to go greener
A flagship project under the EBRD Green Cities programme was to replace the city’s old, yellow, polluting buses with 144 new, blue, modern and environmentally friendly ones.
The new buses, purchased with Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership (E5P) support,* run more frequently and reliably, serving areas of the city not previously covered by a bus route. They are low emission and conform to high safety standards, on a par with European Union regulations.
The blue buses have brought significant improvements to the service for more than 1.2 million inhabitants, increasing both the safety and efficiency of public transport. Their low floors have also helped make Tbilisi’s public transport more inclusive, by accommodating passengers with limited movement and disabilities.
Because of the need to modernise the city’s transport system further and encourage people to shift from private to public transport, reducing air pollution, another 226 green – both in colour and environmental benefits − buses were recently purchased with the Bank’s support.
“The fleet has been fully renewed, which has significantly increased the number of passengers, as well as our capacity to serve them,” says Mr Sharkov. “According to the statistics, the number of people using buses has increased by 30 per cent.”
Aside from the bus network, 12 metro stations in Tbilisi are set to be rehabilitated and upgraded with Bank and Green Climate Fund (GCF) support.
Better lighting and ventilation, and more energy-efficient escalators will improve the daily commute of Tbilisians, while an overhaul of the drainage systems will make the network more climate resilient. The project will increase the metro stations' energy efficiency, helping the city to improve the effectiveness of its infrastructure and enhancing climate resilience.
Promoting women’s inclusion and safety with GCF and Japan’s support
The metro and bus projects not only provide commuters with a comfortable and environmentally friendly means of transport, but also promote safety for all thanks to an incident tracking system.
“To improve service quality, with the assistance of the EBRD and experts, we upgraded a hotline that handles calls on infrastructure malfunctions and potential harassment on public transport,” says Mr Sharkov. “Rules and regulations have been formulated that determine how we address these situations.”
The bus extension project is providing training with a view to recruiting women drivers and promoting women’s employment in the transport sector, while at the same time building TTC’s capacity to prevent gender-based violence and harassment in the workplace. The Bank is also supporting Tbilisi in the preparation of an Inclusive Transport Strategy, aimed at delivering and designing more inclusive, safer public transportation.
The EBRD and TTC conducted an assessment to understand men’s and women’s travel patterns across the city and ran a city-wide communications campaign to promote safety for all on public transport.
“We conducted research with the support of consultants,” Mr Sharkov says. “About 1,000 passengers and potential passengers were surveyed, and their thoughts and desires were taken into account. Currently, buses are fully adapted to the needs of people with disabilities. As for the metro, with the help of the EBRD, the rehabilitation of 12 stations is being carried out. We are in the early design stages, which will include accessibility for disabled people.”
These steps will help make Tbilisi’s transportation system accessible and comfortable for everyone, paving the way for Tbilisi to have an inclusive and sustainable future.
*Donors to the E5P are: the European Union (the largest contributor), Armenia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, TaipeiChina, Ukraine and the United States of America.
