The Car-Free City Center rating – part of the Friendly City Index database – ranks 62 cities across 11 CEE countries by the share of residents who rarely or never drive to the city centre in their own car
21 September 2026 — City centres across Central and Eastern Europe remain stubbornly car-dependent. Among private car owners in the region, 17% drive to the city centre on every single trip and a further 26% do so on most visits — with only 38% saying they rarely or never take their own car downtown. The findings come from the Car-Free City Center rating, part of the Friendly City Index, a database of city rankings tracking urban mobility habits across the region, published ahead of Car-Free Day on 22 September.
The rating ranks cities by the share of residents who say they rarely or never use their own private car to reach the city centre – as distinct from taxis, ride-hailing or car-sharing services. This year’s edition surveyed over 6,500 residents across 62 cities in 11 countries, conducted by data solutions company Syno International.
Wide Gaps Across the Region
The results span a striking range — from 73% in Czech Plzeň, where nearly three quarters of residents rarely or never drive to the centre in their own car, down to single digits in parts of Azerbaijan. Among capital cities, Prague leads (62%), followed by Sofia (50%) and Tallinn (48%), while the lowest rates are found in Baku (23%), Warsaw (31%) and Vilnius (34%).
And car dependency extends well beyond city centre trips: 47% of CEE residents say they always commute to work or education by private car, and 38% always take it for short local errands. The data points consistently to habit as a primary driver of car use – not the absence of alternatives.
“The range in this rating – from cities where most residents simply don’t need to drive downtown, to those where the private car remains almost universal – tells you that car dependency in city centres is not inevitable. But across the region, the majority of cities are still far from that point. Habit is a powerful force, and the Friendly City Index rating gives cities a concrete way to benchmark their progress year on year,” says Mantas Čižas, Regional PR Manager for CEE & West Asia at Bolt.
What Those Who Have Already Shifted Tell Us
Residents who rarely or never drive to the city centre in their own car show what the alternatives can already deliver. They are far more likely to use public transport as their primary mode (42% vs. 8% among regular private car users) and more likely to walk (15% vs. 4%). They also spend less time in traffic: 64% report under one hour per week in jams, compared to 52% of regular private car users.
Yet despite these measurable benefits, the majority in most cities have not made the shift – pointing to a gap between what alternatives offer and what would make them feel like an obvious daily choice over the private car.
A Generational Story
This year’s European Mobility Week theme – intergenerational mobility – finds a direct echo in the data. Residents aged 35–44 are the most car-dependent group across CEE, with 51% choosing the private car as their primary mode. Usage begins to ease from age 45 onward. Among those aged 65 and over, public transport becomes the dominant choice (45%), with this group also recording the highest share of walkers (12%).
The youngest adults – 18 to 24-year-olds – already show a different pattern: they prioritise public transport more than any other working-age group and are the most active users of shared e-scooters and car-sharing services. The generational shift is underway.
About the Friendly City Index
The Friendly City Index is an international database of ratings that compares cities in Central and Eastern Europe from a human-centred perspective – covering daily travel time, access to green spaces, personal finances, bicycle infrastructure and more. The 2026 edition covers 62 cities across 11 countries (Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine), with data collected by data solutions company Syno International.
The index is launched and supported by Bolt, Europe’s largest mobility platform, in partnership with independent experts. The full Car-Free City Center and other ratings are available at friendlycityindex.com.