Warsaw
UMR Index
Score: 54.7%
Sustainable Mobility
Score: 45.6%
Public Transit
Score: 60.9%
| Population | 1.9 million |
| Surface area (km2) | 546 |
| Population-density (people/km2) | 3,444 |
| GDP per capita ($) | 35,951 |
What Warsaw Does Well in Urban Mobility
Multimodality flourishes in Warsaw, with extensive car-free zones, safe and connected roads, and affordable and accessible public transit. Building on this strength, in 2022, Warsaw unveiled three new metro stations and 17 new trains.
Warsaw has introduced car-free zones and stringent restrictions on emissions in the city's center to help limit congestion and pollution. Warsaw announced in 2023 plans to create a “clean transport zone” that will ban diesel-powered cars more than 18 years old in the central district beginning in 2024.
Urban Mobility Readiness Index, Sustainable Mobility and Public Transit scores
Challenges and Opportunities for Warsaw’s Transportation System
Warsaw lacks an extensive presence of top universities and labs working on mobility and is home to few mobility companies, contributing to a more muted mobility innovation ecosystem.
Limited government investment in electric and automated vehicle infrastructure has led to limited charging station availability and low autonomous transit adoption. However, Warsaw’s 2030 plans include halving its number of conventional buses by replacing them with low- and zero-emission vehicles and bolstering its e-mobility options.
Dimensions of the Urban Mobility Readiness Index score
How Warsaw Can Improve Its Public Transportation and Sustainable Mobility
While Warsaw has ambitions to increase electric vehicle (EV) fleets, it is still lagging in sales, with a market share six times smaller than that of Munich. The city can increase its existing incentives, by reinstituting registration tax exemptions, increasing purchase subsidies, or offering free parking opportunities to support and encourage EV purchases and charging station availability. Station availability is another major factor in EV purchase decisions, and Warsaw's station density is well below its peers. To offer a comparable charging infrastructure to Munich’s, Warsaw would need to accelerate the deployment of charging stations to multiply its charging station density by a factor of 11.
Public transit riders in Warsaw often struggle with long commute times due to low transit speeds. To help close the gap with other cities, Warsaw can build dedicated bus lanes to help avoid traffic slowdowns for bus riders. Adding bus lanes is an efficient and effective way to shorten travel times for commuters. In addition, introducing autonomous transit to the city's metro would help increase speed and efficiency; however, this requires a large upfront investment.