How Ukraine’s Recovery From War Can Inform Kyiv’s Car-driven Chaos[1]

Russell W. Glenn

How much space is occupied by people using a bus, bicycle, or car?[2]

Here's a shocker: In 2023, The Economist's Global Liveability Index ranked Kyiv among the ten least comfortable cities in which to live.[3] Russian missile and drone attacks will do that, as will resultant interruptions in public services and other of war’s disruptions. That said, Ukraine’s capital had issues before Bad Neighbor’s February 2022 renewal of its incursions from 2014. The residue of Soviet-era plans and associated failure to develop a viable development strategy in their stead meant Kyiv’s quality of life suffered increased pollution, disproportionately high rates of vehicle-related injuries and deaths, and other problems. Additionally, post-World War II urban construction under Soviet influence inadequately prepared Ukraine’s cities for the proliferation of automobiles following the 1991 end of Cold War. Housing construction in the 1950s focused on large apartment complexes rather than standalone dwellings as in the United States and elsewhere. The original apartment complexes were well served by public transportation, services that atrophied with the breakup of the Soviet Union other than—in the case of Kyiv—the well-maintained metro train system. Later housing projects built on the city’s outskirts were likewise poorly served. (Ukrainian cities today still have a considerably higher percentage of residents living in apartments when compared to Western Europe, the US, and Canada.) The result: Kyivans’ reliance on private cars or mini-buses with its accompanying congestion and pollution.

So here it is: How Kyiv’s frenetic traffic, frenzied parking, and pedestrians’ daily fight to survive the capital’s streets (or any horizontal surface for that matter) can benefit as Ukraine begins its recovery from war…even as war continues.

Driving and parking in Kyiv

The considerable gap between Kyiv’s car-related regulations and reality on the streets—and sidewalks…and parks…and playgrounds…and public transport lanes—is a titanic one.[4] Vehicle ownership was constrained prior to the breakup of the Soviet Union. Then came the fall of The Wall and fragmentation. Enter the automobile in large numbers. Driver training fell well short of need, a condition persisting today. It is also not unusual for drivers to lack a legitimate license. Courtesy is frequently in short supply. Driver aggression shows little regard for pedestrian safety. It does show a willingness to see sidewalks as an extension of road surfaces. The brutal level of accidents is unsurprising in light of TomTom company analytics finding pre-2022 Kyiv’s congestion among the world’s worst. The city is notorious in terms of pedestrian, bike rider, passenger, and driver unsafety. Further compounding the problem is that failure of the once notable public transportation system. The exception of the metro unfortunately became part of the problem when a section on one of the city’s three lines was damaged by flooding, causing closure of several stations, though Kyiv adapted somewhat with shuttles providing between-closed-stations movement.[5] War is chaos. So are driving and parking in Kyiv.

It’s pretty clear: Moving cars are a problem in Ukrainian cities. The problems don’t cease when they stop. Parking in Kyiv is no less anarchical than driving. This is not to imply there haven’t been efforts to tame the thus far untamable. Kyiv wisely prorates the cost of parking based on local vehicle density:

• Zone I (the central part of the city): 35 hryvnia/hour ($0.85/hour)
• Zone II (central districts away from the city center and other commercial areas such as shopping centers and rail stations): 25 hryvnia/hour ($0.61/hour)
• Zone III (other areas): 5 hryvnia/hour ($0.12/hour)

Daily fines follow the same logic. All are twenty times the hourly rate, so the penalties by zone are:

• Zone I: 700 hryvnia ($17.04)
• Zone II: 500 hryvnia ($12.17)
• Zone III: 100 hryvnia ($2.43)

[These fees might seem an exceptionally good bargain in comparison to US parking costs, but note the average monthly salary for Kyiv is 25,000 hryvnia ($604.60), that for Ukraine as a whole 21,400 hryvnia ($517.54).][6]

Parking in Ukraine is not free of the country’s longtime bugaboo of corruption. But here too, countermeasures have been put in place. Whereas cash was once allowed, now payment must be via an app or other automated form. The policy should help Kyiv’s coffers. In commenting on the previously permitted policy, one author noted, “in other cities this type of fee collection has led to spillage of revenue. There is no doubt that the payment scheme in Kiev is leading to lost income.” That said, what was lost to theft must have paled in comparison to income foregone due to scofflaws and poor enforcement. The same author related that “official estimates assume that only 30% of drivers pay for parking.”[7] There is occasionally legitimate respite from having to pay, however. The VisitUkraine.Today website advises car owners “that during an air raid, inspectors do not fine drivers and do not evacuate [tow] cars. So you shouldn't worry about it.” The website goes on to reasonably suggest, “if you hear the air raid alarm, take cover immediately.”[8]

Where Kyiv’s drivers park is but part of the problem. How they park can be another. Signs dictate how to park where confusion might otherwise arise, though the variety of options around Kyiv is near amazing:[9]

Mind the gap…between regulation and reality

Calibrated parking fees, automated payment, and clearly specified guidance regarding how to park belie what one finds on the ground. The international Institute for Development and Transportation Policy described parking in 2015 Kyiv as

visibly chaotic. Drivers park their cars everywhere—on the sidewalk, in crosswalks, in moving lanes, on playgrounds, in public plazas, on grass, and seemingly wherever a surface space can be accessed. Though a municipal enterprise, known as KyivTransParkService (KTPS), oversees payments in officially sanctioned spaces, there is still rampant illegal parking…. The problem starts with numbers. With a population of 3.5 million, [Kyiv] has approximately 1.5 million cars. These vehicles vie for only 25,000 regulated public parking spaces, of which only 6,500 are on the street. As a result, drivers fill whatever space they can find, causing obstructed sidewalks and overrun public plazas. Though the answer to [Kyiv’s] parking problem will need to include a greater focus on public transit and non-motorized transport, it is clear that better management of existing infrastructure is needed. Even for the spaces that exist, the current system is broken.[10]

Less-than-safe foot movement begins once a passenger or driver exits their vehicle. Those with disabilities or other special needs can find getting around especially challenging. Just as designated parking places are too few, pedestrian-designated (or pedestrian-protected) routes from where one might park fail to meet needs. Those seeking an elevator or ramp to assist with mobility limitations, pushing a baby carriage (pram for you British and Commonwealth readers), pulling a suitcase, or otherwise looking for an alternative to stairs and other obstacles rarely find succor. Many are the below-ground passageways devoid of ready access. Above ground, marked crosswalks are scarce, helping to explain the precariousness of moving about on foot.

It seems not much has changed with the passage of the near-decade since 2015. 

Kyiv’s cars and Ukraine’s recovery from war

Despite the enduring war, Kyiv’s ongoing recovery efforts are far less frenzied than conditions on the streets…and sidewalks…etc., etc., … That is true despite broad spectrum of citizens’ suffering. Urban areas farther west have but occasionally been on the receiving end of Russian aggression. Others have been all but destroyed, Mariupol in the country’s southeast being a prime example. Each has or will have choices in terms of the extent to which it redefines itself or instead chooses to return to some pre-war state. History tells us a combination of the two is likely.

Whether Russian-inflicted damage is limited to a few buildings or spread city-wide, closed roads and disrupted lives will be the norm as cities continue to rebuild and replace. These interruptions will test public patience. Yet Ukraine’s citizens have again and again proven themselves up to life’s toughest tests. The days following Russia’s 24 February 24, 2022 renewed invasion saw citizens rush to aid in throwing back the attackers. Some went online to report enemy locations and movements. Others provided food or another form of support to defenders. No few took up arms and fought alongside their soldiers. These actions were extraordinary; most throughout history choose to do little more than avoid danger. Extraordinary, but unsurprising. These are the same citizens who had been asserting themselves in years prior to the attacks, whether by challenging politicians who refused to promote their country’s newfound sovereignty or reporting low-level corruption in a society where its absence is noteworthy. Many have since shown a no less extraordinary willingness to forego amenities in support of their men and women at the front as the New York Times attests:

Braving rain and snow, hundreds of Ukrainians gathered last week outside the Kyiv City Council with signs reading, “I don’t want a park” and “Why do I need paving stones?” They chanted, jumped and clapped as they called for an end to road repairs and a freeze on the construction of a new subway depot. Protesting the renovation of one’s city may seem highly unusual, especially in a country whose president was elected four years ago on a promise to repair roads. But protesters said a more urgent cause demands funding today — the war effort…. The capital’s military budget for 2024 — about $27 million, according to official figures — is only a fraction of [2023’s], which has outraged protesters. “I want the budget to be used for the defense of our country, not to repave sidewalks or put asphalt on roads that already look normal,” said Tetiana Nagumuk, who was standing among protesters last week, a Ukrainian flag draped around her shoulders.[11]

Recovery from any disaster, man-caused as is the case with war or as a result of Mother Nature, requires that social and economic considerations receive attention in addition to the obvious demands of restoring physical infrastructure. Car-related issues span the gamut in this regard as the above discussion makes clear. For example, restoring the physical infrastructure of streets should also incorporate social considerations (residents’ confidence in being able to move around safely and the emotional implications of a traffic victim’s death or injury, for example) and those economic (cost of medical-related tribulations brought about by accidents or exacerbated by pollution). Ukraine’s leaders can reward citizens’ patience and commitment to front-line support by taking on its chaotic driving and parking during recovery planning. Other cities provide relevant lessons. New York is among those taking from cars to give to pedestrians, cyclists, and residents seeking a moment’s rest. Some changes cleverly take on both parking and pedestrian safety by putting parked cars between flowing traffic and bike lanes such that the sequence is traveled way->parking slots->bike lane->curb->sidewalk. Barcelona is another, adapting their streets by adopting a Superblock approach that relegates automobiles to secondary status (of which more in a moment). Given that above-noted average income in Ukraine’s cities is low by Western standards, parking fines can be punishing for those less wealthy while hardly qualifying as an inconvenience for the rich, this in a country with considerable income disparity. Finland and Norway are among the countries offering a possible way ahead in this regard. Both prorate fines based on income, speeding in Norway costing an astounding one-tenth of the violator’s annual income. If that speed is excessive, penalties also include a mandatory minimum 18-day jail sentence. Canada and Switzerland are among the countries that also levy hefty fines for driving or parking violations…or both.[12]

Henry Graber, in his Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World, offers a number of counters to long-accepted parking policy practices, some of which could reduce both public and private rebuilding costs in Kyiv.[13] Grabar reports that “in Las Vegas, an above-ground parking garage built to code added 50 percent of the cost of the building. In Los Angeles, 32 percent. If the garage was underground, those figures rose by double digits.”[14]

His advice: do away with or revise minimum requirements for the number of required parking spaces required when building and reverse counterproductive policies such as cheap or free curbside parking (or, in the case of Kyiv, sometimes-on-the-sidewalk parking). Benefits include reduced congestion, less pollution, and lower fuel consumption. All three are rewards for making street parking more expensive as drivers then choose lower-cost nearby garage or lot parking rather than spending lengthy periods trolling for more economical street spaces. Those same residents who argue for more money being allocated to the front lines will easily grasp that less gasoline consumed in the hunt for parking translates to more petroleum available for home heating during cold Ukrainian winters, vehicles taking the fight to the enemy, and less demand for what will for a number of years be a much-in-demand and expensive commodity given refusal to support Russian providers in the aftermath of February 2022’s renewed incursions.

Ukrainians’ patience will be needed for many years. It will, for example, take decades and billions of dollars to neutralize Ukraine’s millions of mines and other unexploded ordnance. That same patience will be called for in awaiting housing and other infrastructure replacement or repair. Why then, look not just at immediate ways to better Ukraine’s urban transportation but consider others looking toward the more distant future? The Netherlands began fighting its dependency on cars in the early 1970s, motivated by the expense of the country’s vehicle-based infrastructure and a gas crisis. A post-WWII surge in vehicle casualties was also a factor. Dutch drivers were the perpetrators of 20 percent more car-related fatalities per capita than the United States in 1975. With the dawning of the 21^st century, however, reliance on bicycles had become world famous while the number of traffic-related deaths dropped to 60 percent less than in the US. Acceptance and related benefits were slow to come at first, but by 2019 over a quarter of trips were on bicycles even as car accidents (mostly car-bike) and bike rider fatalities decreased. (US bicycle trips constitute well under 5% of the country’s travel share.) Think of the fuel savings, pollution reduction, and health upticks in these numbers. Dutch use of bicycles remains world famous. Day or night; summer, winter, autumn, or spring—cyclists rule the roads and woe to a motor vehicle operator striking one.[15]

Other upsides in robbing Chevfordota to pay Paulina and Paul include more parks, playgrounds, and other quality of life amenities. Grabar notes that Los Angeles County’s parking requirements have resulted in two hundred square miles being dedicated to storing cars not in use, the equivalent of a three-story garage covering the entirety of Washington, D.C. NYC’s protected bike lanes, Barcelona’s Superblocks, the Netherlands’ bicycle-centrality: only limits to imagination hinder innovative thinking. Ingenuity, invention, and a willingness to listen to residents and experts are all part of solutions.

Recovery from war is one of mankind’s most difficult undertakings. “Winning the peace” has often proved harder than winning a war as Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan attest. Notably, those governing Ukraine are already taking giant strides toward a successful recovery, that even as war continues. Unlike with devastated urban areas in post-World War II Germany and Japan, Ukrainians do not face a Year Zero scenario in which destruction is so great that what was offers little upon which to build (with notable exceptions such as Mariupol). Legitimate governments remain in place aside from cities subjected to continued Russian occupation. How might they address driving dissonance and parking pandemonium, thereby enhancing constituents’ quality of life? Among the forums for improvement: policy development, management, and leadership; public health; countering corruption along with its cousin black marketing; and education and information campaigns.

Vehicle policies, management, and leadership

Quality urban leadership makes for quality urban life. In addition to soliciting local resident views on how best to balance community desires and city needs, better leaders avoid a soda straw perspective when viewing car-related issues. We have noted that both driving and parking involve far more than streets and spaces no less than urban recovery generally. Separating traveled ways from sidewalks, parks, playgrounds, outside dining, and bike and scooter ways and other enhancements require maintaining a grip on the big picture. Solutions might involve denying drivers access to select streets altogether. Alternatively, removing other-than-drivers from some locations to the extent feasible could be desirable. Statistics and need suggest introducing passenger bridges or tunnels in Kyiv where pre-war conditions made them impractical. Encouraging above- or below-ground street-spanning connections (with good pedestrian access) between buildings via tax breaks or other incentives is a too little-used solution. Such spans would be especially appropriate for linking public transport facilities and parking garages, school properties to pedestrian ways, and otherwise avoiding high-density and particularly dangerous locations.

Were city regulations to differ within Ukraine, bad habits tolerated in City A would migrate when its drivers visit City B. City B officials would ensure visitors pay the price of their evil ways, but residents in the better-behaved city would in the interim undergo inconvenience or worse. Similarly, uniform standards for clearing explosives, suppression of corruption, and treatment of those who collaborate with the enemy are a must to ensure countrywide public safety and just treatment. Some degree of tension between such centralized federal guidance and the need for legitimate local adaptation will certainly exist across Ukraine’s recovery efforts. The issue of collaboration with Russian occupiers has already seen several dubious official dictates from Kyiv. The result has been ill-will as community members watch those they believe deserve punishment escape retribution while others suffer what locals think are injustices. Early guidance from the capital condemned virtually any cooperation with Russian authorities. Many had legitimate reasons for continuing work despite it being under occupying authorities’ jurisdiction. Doctors treated patients and teachers chose to teach, both groups fearing the effects of lengthy periods with no provision of their services. So too did cities depend on those providing essential services such as policing, fire response, and utilities maintenance. When it comes to driving and parking, finding the balance between overarching guidance and reasonable adaptation to local conditions will be the right answer.

Kyiv’s—and Ukraine’s—recovery comes at a pivotal time in terms of urban design. Driverless cars and those electric are likely to reach tipping points at which they become ubiquitous if not dominant parts of urban life. Parking will be less called for as ridesharing companies operate driverless vehicles 24-7. Standalone refueling stations will be less necessary. Collocation of recharging stations for electric vehicles with what parking facilities remain, commercial properties, and residences will become the norm. Though the current immaturity of the driverless movement makes details of its future difficult to assess, proliferation of such vehicles should have some—and potentially a significant—influence in reducing congestion. The same is true of related software allowing for less distance between bumpers and (eventually) elimination of the need to stop at intersections when traffic flows allow. The already established popularity of car-sharing rentals in larger European cities and elsewhere further foretells of a decrease in private vehicle ownership…and corresponding total number of vehicles on roads and in spaces.

Public health and quality of life

Barcelona’s population density in 2023 was five times that of Amsterdam and fourfold greater than Berlin’s. It had been one of Europe’s most congested, polluted, and noisy cities thirty years before. Today, its 400 by 400 meter (1300 by 1300 feet) Superblocks dictate that cars, bicycles, scooters, and other other-than-pedestrian modes of transport share a speed limit of ten kilometers (six miles) per hour in these mini-havens. Pedestrian traffic has increased by 10%, bike trips by 30%. Vehicle usage fell by 92% in one “superblocked” area without exacerbating traffic on nearby streets while noise and air pollution likewise decreased. Cars, according to one observer, simply “‘evaporated’; people chose not to use them as often.”[16] Ukraine take note: As with wiser parking regulations and pricing, the result has reduced health risks, clamor, and congestion. What’s not to like?

Corruption and black marketing

What other challenges lurk in Kyiv’s car use that might be informed by or, perhaps, inform recovery from the ongoing war? The use of automated payments in lieu of cash has spread to other public transactions in the fight against petty corruption. Online apps also enable passport, car insurance, home title, and other public-service transactions. Yet the corrupt are sure to adapt. New York City found counterfeiting or falsely obtaining disabled placards became a popular way to sidestep paying for parking. Some of the city’s boys in blue—the police—were unfortunately among the fraudsters. Applying justice to urban scofflaws should present no great challenge. Potential remedies include public shaming, many hours of unpaid public service, stiff financial penalties, loss of jobs, and stints in prison. Some have shown noteworthy creativity when it comes to shaming. For example, fan of public shaming

Ivanov-Kostetskyi mentions an interesting method of shaming for violations he observed in Germany. "Punishments are issued very cunningly there for not paying for a parking space. Instead of a check [ticket], the driver is given a piece of paper under the windshield wiper on which it is noted that they behaved badly, the authorities recorded the license plate number, and the driver will receive a fine within the time limit specified by law.”[17]

Ivanov-Kostetskyi might be too nice a guy. Some individuals in the United States post photographs of exceptionally bad parking jobs on the internet or leave notes on the perpetrator’s windshield. Americans are not alone in the practice. A remarkably bad parking effort in the United Kingdom gained the perpetrator a note accompanied by a condom, a signal that perhaps the driver should consider not reproducing.[18]

Stiffer penalties could be put in place for particularly egregious or repeated driving or parking violations. Late 11^th-century author Nizam al-Mulk offers pithy advice in his Siyasat Nameh or Book of Politics:

If an official assesses a farmer more than is due to the authorities, the sum he unjustly raised should be demanded of him and returned to the farmer, and if the official has any property, it should be confiscated as an example to other agents so they refrain from tyrannical acts.[19]

There is no need confiscation need apply only to public officials. Along the lines of the US “Don’t even think of parking here” might be a Ukrainian adoption of “Park without paying: Donate your car to the army” to ensure might-be abusers realize just how stiff a resultant fine could be. Surely the military would benefit from no-cost acquisition of behind-front-lines transportation.

Draconian? Perhaps you’ll think differently given the need for a Kyiv website to advise drivers not to park their cars:

• “on streetcar tracks and at railroad crossings;
• at bus and minibus stops;
• on flowerbeds, lawns, greenery areas;
• at crosswalks and 10 meters before them;
• in tunnels and on entrances and exits;
• on overpasses, bridges, various overpasses and under them;
• in other places where the auto may interfere with the movement of other vehicles and pedestrians.”[20]

Education and information campaigns

The education campaigns put together by the Allies in Berlin, Tokyo, and other cities under occupation following World War II took on the considerable challenge of reorienting societies long indoctrinated in the ways of fascism. Years of propaganda meant everything from textbooks to newspapers and motion pictures had to be drastically revised or pulped. That Ukraine benefits from the good fortune of not having experienced such brutal attacks on its national psyche (other than in those less fortunate areas long occupied by the enemy) does not mean there will not be a need for extensive and well-considered education initiatives. Nevertheless, those post-WWII approaches employed by the Allies can advise the molding of new behaviors in the vehicle arena as cities make known new standards. Insights from that distant past and newly created traffic public information campaigns can in turn advise the far more challenging tasks that will come when cities long Russian-occupied return to Kyiv’s governing fold. An incomplete list of other areas already needing Ukraine-wide information campaigns include (1) warning of dangers associated with mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO), (2) how to compensate for energy, construction material, and other shortages, (3) advice regarding procedures for making wartime loss claims, and (4) where and how to seek assistance with post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) and other injuries, these in addition to better guidelines regarding just ways of dealing with those accused of enemy collaboration. None of these will be one and done. Surprising though it may be when the topics include such life-threatening issues as UXO and PTSD, public information programs require frequent reinforcement as diligence wanes.

Are we getting there from here?: Measuring progress…or lack of it

Good measures of progress are easy to understand, un-burdensome to support with data, avoid motivating negative behaviors, encourage positive ones, are adaptable to changing conditions, and—vitally—measure effectiveness (impact) rather than merely the amount of effort expended. In contrast, poorly designed metrics can lead to destructive conduct. Examples of metrics gone bad include the notorious use of body count during the US war in Vietnam (motivating false reporting at best and counting deceased civilians as enemy at worst) and dollars spent during America’s efforts to rebuild postwar Iraq and Afghanistan (for encouraging spending with no understanding of the benefits accrued). Ukrainian UXO neutralization organizations continue to suffer the consequences of misunderstanding the difference measures of effort and measures of effect. Despite education initiatives, some donors insist on gaging demining success by the number of explosive items removed per unit area or the cost of clearance per square meter. Both merely reflect labor expended. Neither tells of the benefits accruing from that effort. Removing thousands of mines to no significant effect might look good on paper. Removing one hundred mines and by so doing opening ten vital trafficways tells of benefits obtained.

Insightfully designed measures of success in addressing traffic challenges have the potential to inform metrics design in all of Ukraine’s recovery sectors (corruption reduction, effectiveness of donor dollars spent, and value of information campaigns, food distribution, and economic recovery among them). A reduction in the number of collisions and vehicle-related deaths might suggest the effects of better traffic enforcement and street design. Other metric designs will demand greater subtly. Increased income from vehicle violations might seem a reflection of better enforcement. If fines are so low that drivers don’t consider them an incentive to obey the law, however, then the metric merely reflects greater effort expended in writing tickets. Among the lessons key to developing recovery metrics: Sometimes multifaceted measures will be needed to gage effectiveness. More income from parking fines combined with less traffic congestion and fewer cars where they shouldn’t be gets at effectiveness. (By the way, there is potential irony in reducing parking violations. Better adherence to parking laws can reduce city income as there are fewer cars to fine.) As with the case of UXO disposal, city officials will find measuring improvements in the traffic sector has its share of potholes.

Some might argue that Ukrainian drivers’ creative parking and aggressive driving reflect the same innovation and “can do” attitude prominent in the country’s inventive weapons manufacturing emergent since February 2022. Perhaps, but allowing drivers to run amok at the cost of fellow citizens’ welfare is far different than taking the fight to Russian invaders. A bit of restraint in the service of Kyivan and other residents’ quality of life will in no way hinder resourcefulness in other arenas. Solving Kyiv’s driving and parking problems would be but one benefit gathered along the path of Ukraine’s successful recovery from war. Yet Kyiv’s driving and parking provide a microcosm from which to learn and trial approaches to the much greater challenge Ukraine’s cities face in recovering from war, this no less than recovery writ large can advise how to improve the daily lives of the country’s citizens.

Endnotes