By opening the opportunity for residents of the capital and guests of the city to travel by public transport free of charge, the Vilnius City Municipality hopes to create more favourable conditions for citizens of Vilnius and visitors of the capital to comfortably reach the planned goals of traveling around the city during the NATO Summit, to compensate for the inconveniences caused by restricting car traffic.
“We have been thinking about this decision since the beginning, when it became clear that the NATO Summit will be held in Vilnius – we express gratitude to the City Council which approved this idea. We thank the residents for their understanding and appreciation of the importance of the event. We hope that the opportunity to use public transport for free will encourage people to use it even after the meeting is over,” Vilnius City Mayor Valdas Benkunskas commented on the decision.
During the NATO Summit, traffic and movement restrictions will cover the Old Town, Vilnius Airport, separate territories of the New Town township, as well as access to the Lithuanian Exhibition and Congress Centre “Litexpo”. Some districts or streets will be closed completely, some – temporarily, so residents are invited to familiarize themselves with more detailed information closer to the meeting.
In the restricted access areas, it will be possible to move only on foot, the movement of all vehicles, including bicycles and electric scooters, will be closed, so residents and businesses are encouraged to stock up on the necessary supplies in advance. Restrictions are introduced to ensure security in accordance with the protocol provided by NATO.
Since car traffic will be severely restricted in the city, public transport routes crossing the central part of the city will be substantially adjusted. Being unable to travel by car, Vilnius residents and guests of the capital are invited to use public city transport.
It is planned that about 40 delegations of NATO member countries and partner countries will come to the event. More than 2,000 international media journalists and participants, related to the organisation of the event, are expected. It is also planned to allow them to use public transport free of charge, upon presentation of the identification certificate of the event participant, with a special tag affixed by the Municipal company “Transportation Services”.
The municipality estimates that up to Eur 200,000 will be allocated for the implementation of this decision .
More information: www.vilnius.lt/nato
