According to Railway Pro, there are two bidders for the Underground Metro (Subway, to Americans) in Cluj Napoca.
Faclia de Cluj reports that the winning bidder will be announced early next year.
Cluj Napoca does not have an underground system at the moment, but it has a useful network of trams and buses that connect most of the city. Locals often complain about a lack of parking spaces, and cars can be seen parked all over the sidewalk. Locals will often leave their phone numbers on the windshield, in case they accidentally park in someone’s way, so that the complainer can ask them to move.
The anticipated metro is projected to cost almost three billion Euros, or nine billion Ron. That is a lot of Langos and Palanets!
More seriously, the average wage in Cluj is 24 thousand Ron. That means the metro will cost 375 thousand annual wages. There were only 326 thousand people in Cluj according to the 2011 census, many of which were retired or students who were not working.
Will the metro encourage more people to take mass transit, and leave more parking spaces free?