Skopje's mayor Orce Đorđievski has announced that work on the BRT project - the bus rapid transit system - is finally beginning, moving the city into a new phase of urban mobility. The project, long stuck, is now moving forward with backing from the government and international partners. „The whole process is finally unlocked and we are preparing to start the preliminary phase,” Đorđievski said.

BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) is a rapid bus system with dedicated lanes, designed to improve flow in a city where traffic congestion long ago became a daily routine. Beyond BRT, the city is announcing a broader strategy too - developing cycling infrastructure, expanding pedestrian zones and alternative forms of transport.

The same announcement also covers new vehicles and cleaning equipment, plus the resumption of stalled boulevard projects, including „Makedonija” Boulevard. All of it with support from the World Bank and the Ministry of Transport. A package of promises that sounds modern and European - on paper.

The word that keeps coming up is „unlocked.” And when a project gets „unlocked,” it's worth asking who kept it locked and why until now, and how many times we've already heard that Skopje is entering a „new era” of transport. Commuters who stand in traffic every morning won't be won over by an announcement - they'll be won over by the first bus that actually rolls down its own lane. Until then, the „new era” stays words in a press release.