On January 26, ISET hosted an Asian Development Bank (ADB) group with keynote speaker David Margonsztern, the Senior Urban Development Specialist of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). He gave a presentation entitled “The ADB’s Sustainable Transport Initiative (STI): Turning Strategies into realities”. The ADB started this project in 2010 with the priority of developing transport systems that are accessible, safe, environmentally friendly, and affordable in Asia. Mr. Margonsztern emphasized that the project is targeted to increase the share of urban transport among other means of transportation. Compared to the situation in 1970-2009, when the share of urban transport was only 2%, after implementing the STI project, the share of urban transport increased to 18%. By 2020, the project aims to reach a 30% share of urban transport.

The presentation was followed by questions related to Tbilisi, whether it is possible to redesign the city’s streets in order to avoid traffic jams, or completely switch to rail-based transport, although Margonsztern noted that one would need to carefully take into account the location of the city. However, he claimed that there are rather simple actions that can be undertaken to improve the situation, such as efficient parking management, but pointed out that it is important to consider the cost is while planning to implement such major changes. Lastly, Mr. Margonsztern finished his presentation by quoting Enrique Penalosa, Mayor of Bogota: “A developed city is not a city where the poor have cars, but a city where even the rich use public transport.”