Transport inZagreb, the capital ofCroatia, relies on a combination of city-managedmass transit and individual transportation. Mass transit is composed of 19 inner-citytram lines and 120 bus routes, both managed entirely byZagreb Electric Tram, commonly abbreviated to ZET.Croatian Railways manages the parallel commuter rail system. The city is served by theFranjo Tuđman Airport, which carries more than 3,300,000 passengers per year. Zagreb Airport is connected to theZagreb Bus Station via Pleso Prijevoz shuttle[1] and toEugen Kvaternik Square via bus line 290 which connects the aforementioned square with the satellite city ofVelika Gorica via the airport.[2] Zagreb has two unimodal long distance terminals, one for railways (Zagreb Glavni kolodvor) and the second one for buses (Zagreb Bus Station), both situated in the city centre.[3]
Zagreb drivers typically use a wide network of avenues and other arterial streets. Due to the shape of the city, most of the trips done in the city are on the east-west relation, causing high traffic on roads likeVukovar Avenue,Dubrovnik Avenue andZagrebačka Avenue. The 18-kilometer (11 mi)Slavonska Avenue is the longest and one of the most congested roads in Zagreb, connecting the inner city to theA3 highway in the east.[4]The number of registered motorized vehicles in the city in the timespan from 1995 to 2006 has increased by 117% (from around 175 thousand vehicles to around 385 thousand), which when adding into account the number of vehicles from the surrounding counties that transit through the city on a daily basis brings the estimated daily number of vehicles in the city to 520 thousand. Compared to its population, Zagreb has more motorized vehicles than Vienna.[5] In 1990 there were 166 cars per 1000 people in Croatia, in 2012 that number increased to 339‰, and in 2022 there were 491 cars per thousand inhabitants (an increase of 45% compared to 2012), marking the 2nd largest growth of car ownership in the EU, after Romania. Zagreb is struggling with the road infrastructure and the number of available parking spaces being insufficient to meet the demand of such an increase in car ownership.[4] The city, nonetheless, has more parking spaces per capita in the city center than Stockholm, Amsterdam and Vienna; however, it lacks a developedpark and ride system.[5] Similar to other European cities, Zagreb does not feature a regulargrid plan.Donji Grad, the Zagrebdowntown, mostly built in the 19th century, features a quasi-rectangular street plan, but the rest of the city depends on the form of wide straight avenues intersecting densely built neighborhoods composed of mostly chaotical street systems. Summer months are commonly used to repair road infrastructure across the city, due to many of the city residents leaving on holiday leave, thus reducing the load of vehicles and subsequent traffic congestion which would ensue due to roadworks.[6]
Zagreb is a regional highway hub with eight highways and expressways radially leading into the city through theZagreb bypass. Major highways and expressways includeA1/A6, leading toGorski Kotar, theLittoral andDalmatia; A3 leading west toRakitje,Samobor,Žumberak andSlovenia and east to Rugvica,Ivanić-Grad,Slavonia andSerbia;A2 leading northwest toZaprešić,Zabok,Krapina andCentral Europe;A4 leading northeast toVaraždin,Čakovec,Hungary and on toEastern Europe;A11 leading southeast toVelika Gorica, Sisak andPetrinja (still in construction) andD10 leading east toVrbovec andKriževci.
Due to years of disrepair, theAdriatic Bridge suffered damage in the2020 Zagreb earthquake, and was repaired in 2024. Works are planned to start on the reconstruction of theLiberty Bridge, built in 1959,[7] and the Youth Bridge, built in 1974.[8] Zagreb features six road bridges across theSava river, the newest being theHomeland Bridge.[9] Zagreb road bridges are congested during the rush hour, since there were 3 additional bridges planned in the past 50 years which have not been built as of 2024. Zagreb mayorTomislav Tomašević announced to the media that he plans to build the planned three bridges in the next several years.[10] There are also plans to expand theZagreb bypass to alleviate congestion, but traffic experts are skeptical that adding more lanes will solve the problem due toinduced demand.
| Name | Year finished | Type | Road that goes over | Other information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Road bridges | ||||
| Podsused Bridge | 1982 | Two-lane road bridge with a commuter train line (not yet completed) | Samoborska Road | Connects Zagreb to its closesuburbs by a road toSamobor, the fastest route to Bestovje, Sveta Nedelja, and Strmec.[11] |
| Jankomir Bridge | 1958, 2006 (upgrade) | Four-lane road bridge | Ljubljanska Avenue | Connects Ljubljanska Avenue to theJankomir interchange andZagreb bypass.[12] |
| Adriatic Bridge | 1981 | Six-lane road bridge (also carriestram tracks) | Adriatic Avenue | The most famous bridge in Zagreb. The bridge spans from Savska Street in the north to theRemetinec Roundabout in the south.[13] |
| Liberty Bridge | 1959 | Four-lane road bridge | Većeslav Holjevac Avenue | Relieved the congested Sava Bridge. 1,600 tons of steel were used to build it.[14] |
| Youth Bridge | 1974 | Six-lane road bridge (also carries tram tracks) | Marin Držić Avenue | Connects districtsZapruđe andTrnje.[15] |
| Homeland Bridge | 2007 | Four-lane road bridge (also carries two bicycle and two pedestrian lanes; has space reserved for tram tracks) | Radnička (Workers') Road | This bridge is the last bridge built on the Sava river to date; it linksPeščenica via Radnička street to theZagreb bypass at Kosnica. It is planned to continue towardsZagreb Airport atPleso andVelika Gorica, and on to state road D31 going to the south.[16] |
| Railway bridges | ||||
| Hendrix Bridge | 1939 | Two-way railway bridge | – | The first bridge on that location was built in 1862 and was later replaced. It got its name after a graffiti saying "Hendrix", referring toJimi Hendrix, kept reappearing on the bridge despite the authorities removing it.[17] |
| Sava-Jakuševec Bridge | 1968 | Two-way railway bridge | – | Built byĐuro Đaković.[18] |
| Pedestrian bridge | ||||
| Sava Bridge | 1938 | Pedestrian bridge | Savska Road | The official name at the time of building was New Sava Bridge, but it is the oldest still standing bridge overSava. It was pedestrianized after the Adriatic Bridge was opened.[19] |
The firsttaxicab ever in Zagreb started operating on 11 June 1901. It was driven by Tadija Bartolović, a skilledfiaker driver. After a successful test drive where Bartolović drove mayorAdolf Mošinsky through Mesnička Street andGornji Grad, the firsttaxicab stand in the city was opened on theBan Jelačić Square.[20][21]
The association of taxicab drivers Radio Taksi Zagreb, of over 1,150 taxicabs, was the sole provider of taxi services in the city before 2011, when the first of many competitive services started to run taxicabs in the city.[22] The taxi market has beenliberalized in early 2018,[23] and numerous transport companies have been allowed to enter the market. Despite this liberalization, taxi prices were prevented from increasing too much via legislation thatcapped them on one tenth of the average monthly salary.[24]
Bolt,Uber, Wizi, and Eko taxi operate taxi services in the city.[25][26]
Zagreb has 320 km (200 mi) of bike lanes,[27] opposed to 2,627 km (1,632 mi) of roads.[28] The bike network is mostly concentrated in the city centre and alongside major avenues, while individual neighbourhoods have very little to no infrastructure at all. It is also not interconnected - many lanes end abruptly, forcing the cyclists to either continue on the curb or on the road. Most bike lanes are just a painted curb, on which pedestrians often accidentally step causing clashes and crashes. Because for so long new lanes were only built on the curb, newer, more modern designs that put bike lanes on the road are met with backlash from drivers who were taught that the bikes belong on the curb with pedestrians.[29][30][31] Zagreb has scored 90th place out of 100 on the Copenhagenize Index 2025, which ranks bike friendliness of cities.[32] In 2022, Zagreb had 2,023 bike parking spaces on 322 different locations.[27] While less common today, ladder racks can still be found instead of U-racks (the preferred variant). Bikes can only be secured to the ladder racks from the tire, which can be easily detached from the frame, increasing the chance of the bike being stolen.[33]
Zagreb is largely flat, except for the northern parts, situated on theMedvednica mountain, which in turn are also more sparsely populated.[34] Zagreb has warm summers and cold winters.[35] Despite the winter weather which can make cycling more difficult, the city has promoted winter commuting by bike, and fared well in a worldwide contest in 2016 called WinterBike-to-Work Day.[36]
The city has a bike-sharing system calledBajs (Croatian slang for bicycle) which began operation in 2025.Bajs was made in collaboration between the city andNextbike’s Public bicycle system, who were the only ones to make an offer to build and manage the system.[37] It is the successor of Nextbike’s own system, but with a bigger scope and a new app, for a price of €9.3 million before taxes.[38] It currently consists of 2,000 bikes on 180 locations.[39] In the first month, the system had accumulated more than 20,000 users.[40]
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Mass transit in Zagreb is managed by the public companyZagreb Electric Tram. ZET's trams used to span the entire city, but due to only two expansions (theDubec andPrečko routes) in the 21st century, tram infrastructure did not keep up with the city's growth. A bus network supplements the trams and covers large parts of the metropolitan area, as well as nearby towns. TheZagreb Cable Car connects the Gračani neighborhood and the tram line 15 terminal with the highest peak of theMedvednica mountain. Zagreb public transit is poorly developed compared to other EU cities, and citizens prefer to use cars instead of riding on the public transit.[5] In 2023, public procurement procedure started for building additional tram lines in Zagreb, specifically connectingEugen Kvaternik Square via Heinzelova Street withŽitnjak, and connectingZapruđe withDugave.[41] Initially, there were plans to connect the future tram railway from Savišće to theZagreb Airport via theHomeland Bridge, but the plans were altered in favor of using the existing railway infrastructure to connect the airport with theZagreb Main Railway Station.[42]
The first tram line was opened on September 5, 1891, setting off a vital part of the Zagreb mass transit system. Zagreb today features an extensive tram network with 15 day and 4 night lines running over 116.3 km (72.3 mi) of tracks through 256 stations and transporting little more than 333,000 passengers per day.[43][44] The network covers much of the inner city, but some lines extend to the suburbs, such as line 15 (operating inPodsljeme) or lines 7 and 11 (operating inDubec). Although the trams are capable of achieving speeds of 70 km/h (43 mph), the fact that the network operates mostly at the curb limits their speed to the speed of surrounding vehicles, causing the trams to travel less than 13 km/h (8.1 mph) on average, with slowdowns during therush hours.[45] In the city centre where the streets are more narrow, trams either share their lane with car traffic resulting in slower service, or have a dedicated lane separated from car traffic by a yellow line, which is often ignored by drivers.[46][47] Outside the city centre, trams primarily run onreserved tracks in the middle of the street (or avenue).[48]
The rolling stock is made up by various trams, including around 50ČKD-Tatra T4 remaining from 1970's (a few more may be stored and out of service for longer periods), 51 TatraKT4, 16TMK 2100 and 142 new, 100%low-floorTMK 2200 cars, of those 140 are 32 m standard version and only 2 shorter 21 m, with a further purchase planned. TMK 2200 is produced by theCrotram consortium, composed ofKončar andTŽV Gredelj, both from Zagreb.[49]
| Line | From | Via | To | Depot | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West railway station (Zapadni kolodvor) | Ban Jelačić Square | Borongaj | Trešnjevka | Does not operate on weekends and public holidays[50] |
| 2 | Črnomerec | Jukić Street,Central Railway Station,Zagreb Bus Terminal | Savišće | Trešnjevka | |
| 3 | Ljubljanica | City of Vukovar Street | Savišće | Trešnjevka | Does not operate on weekends and public holidays |
| 4 | Sava bridge | Central railway station,Maksimir Park | Dubec | Dubrava | |
| 5 | Prečko | City of Vukovar Street, Bus Terminal | Maksimir Park | Trešnjevka | |
| 6 | Črnomerec | Ban Jelačić Square, Central Railway Station, Bus terminal | Sopot | Dubrava | |
| 7 | Sava Bridge | Zagreb Fair, Bus terminal | Dubrava | Dubrava | |
| 8 | Zapruđe | Bus terminal | Mihaljevac | Dubrava | Does not operate on weekends and public holidays |
| 9 | Ljubljanica | Central Railway Station | Borongaj | Trešnjevka | |
| 11 | Črnomerec | Ban Jelačić Square, Maksimir Park | Dubec | Trešnjevka / Dubrava | |
| 12 | Ljubljanica | Ban Jelačić Square | Dubrava | Trešnjevka | |
| 13 | Žitnjak | City of Vukovar Street, Ban Jelačić Square, Central Railway Station | Eugen Kvaternik Square | Dubrava | |
| 14 | Mihaljevac | Ban Jelačić Square, Savska Road, Zagreb Fair | Zapruđe | Dubrava | |
| 15 | Mihaljevac | Gračani | Gračansko Dolje | Dubrava | |
| 17 | Prečko | Savska Road(Savska cesta), Ban Jelačić Square | Borongaj | Trešnjevka |
| Line | From | Via | To | Depot | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | Črnomerec | Ban Jelačić Square,Central Railway Station,Zagreb Bus Terminal,Zagreb Fair | Sava Bridge | Dubrava | [51] |
| 32 | Prečko | Savska Road,Ban Jelačić Square | Borongaj | Trešnjevka | Route is equivalent to daytime line 17 |
| 33 | Gračansko Dolje | Central Railway Station, Valentin Vodnik Street, City of Vukovar Street | Savišće | Dubrava | |
| 34 | Ljubljanica | Ban Jelačić square, Central railway station, Maksimir Road(Maksimirska cesta) | Dubec | Trešnjevka |
The 147 bus lines operated byZET mainly serve neighbourhoods outside the city centre, suburbs andsatellite towns, with the daily ridership being more than 153,000 on average.[44] The length of all lines adds up to 1,524 km (947 mi), with the vast majority of lines not having their own dedicatedbus lanes.[27] The 474-strong fleet consists oflow-floorMAN,Mercedes-Benz andIveco busses.[52][53] Bus transport was first introduced to the city in 1927 under the enterprise Bus Transport. In 1930, the ownership was transferred toV. & M. Barešić & Company and their affiliate companyAutobrzovoz. Shortly after, in 1931, theCity Savings Bank bought the system and commissioned the enterprise City Bus Transport to manage the lines, which later merged with ZET.[54][55]
Up until 2007, all busses were powered by non-renewable sources (mostly diesel), which changed with the purchase of 12biodiesel models as part of the green transition.[56][57] The first fully electric bus was put in service in 2025.[58]
TheZagreb Cable Car is agondola lift that connects thePodsljeme district and the tram line 15 terminal with the highest peak of theMedvednica mountain.[59] The old lift was in operation from 1963 to 2007, when it broke down and the repairs were found to be too costly.[60] A new, modern gondola lift replaced it in 2022 for a cost of €71.27 million, and which can carry 1,500 people per hour at an average speed of 20 km/h (12 mph). It is 5,017 m (16,460 ft) long; the base station is located at an altitude of 267 m (876 ft) above sea level, while the top station is at an altitude of 1,030 m (3,380 ft) - a 763 m (2,503 ft) difference.[61]
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TheZagreb Funicular is afunicular that runs service every 10 minutes from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, and connectsIlica and theLower Town with theUpper Town.[62] The funicular track is 66 metres (217 ft) long and the trip lasts 64 seconds,[63][64] making it the one of the shortest funiculars in the world.[65] It is legally protected as a cultural monument. It was opened in 1890 with a steam engine, which was upgraded to an electric one in 1934.[66]
Zagreb has no metro norrail rapid transit (RRT). An overground RRT or a metro system have been proposed numerous times, which would complement the tram, bus, and commuter rail networks, but never built. The need comes from the fact that Zagreb has regular traffic jams and the average speed of trams is 13 km/h (8.1 mph).[67][68][69] The first plans to build a metro were made in 1971, with the building of a metro system first appearing in the General Transport Plan in 1979.[70] In 1999,MVA consultancy was commissioned for the creation of a traffic study; it evaluated a set of two metro lines (Gajnice–Sesvete and Ban Jelačić Square–Velika Gorica), but concluded that the costs were unjustified compared to building a light rail system, extending tram lines and apark and ride system.[71][72] Despite that, mayorMilan Bandić made multiple promises to build a metro, all to no avail.[70][71]
A definitive concept for RRT or a metro has never been decided upon, mostly due to funding issues caused by budgetary constraints.[73] Zagreb has favorable conditions for building a metro, and a similar land composition toVienna, which has a vast underground system. While the city does have underground waters, it doesn’t impose an issue for metro construction because of modern construction methods. Concerns that the city does not have the adequate population, therefore a metro system would be too costly and overly excessive, are lessened by the population of around 1.2 million people in its commuter belt. Strict population requirements are considered obsolete, as many smaller cities likeLausanne in Switzerland have one. The high cost could be offset by EU funds.[74]
Creating new overground rapid rail transit lines would be a less costly solution with similar benefits to a metro, and would share existing rail tracks through the city with through traffic and suburban lines. Today, rail freight traffic needs to pass through the city, slowing down service.[74] To combat this, a new plan was proposed in 2025 to build a freight bypass around Zagreb to free up space for more passenger transport inside the city.[75] The current railway infrastructure is also far away from populous neighbourhoods likeJarun,Prečko, andŠpansko, something the metro would fix.[74]
Another hurdle with this approach is the fact that the rail tracks in the city are owned byHŽ Infrastruktura, the state-owned infrastructure manager, instead ofZET, the city transit authority. In 2014, the City of Zagreb, together withZagreb County andKrapina-Zagorje County, created IPZP (short for Integrated Transport in the Zagreb Area), a public-owned company to coordinate all projects for integrated transport in the region.[76] But because the company lacks real authority, all attempts to create a rapid rail system still need to be coordinated between the city and HŽ Infrastruktura.[74] Despite bureaucratic hurdles, as of 2025[update] there are plans to better use the already existing railway and build three new stations, supported by mayorTomislav Tomašević, and the topic of better integrating rail transport into the city's public transport system has been a topic of discussion in theCity Assembly.[77]
| Commuter rail | |
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| Locale | Zagreb,Croatia |
| Transit type | Commuter rail Rapid transit |
| Number of lines | 1 |
| Number of stations | 19 |
| Operation | |
| Began operation | 1992 |
| Operator(s) | Croatian Railways |
| Technical | |
| System length | 47 km |
| Track gauge | 1435 mm |
| Electrification | 25 kV, 50 Hz ACoverhead lines |
Zagreb Commuter Rail is thesuburban/commuter railway network that providesmass-transit service in the city ofZagreb, Croatia and its suburbs. This suburban rail system, introduced in 1992 on the routeSavski Marof -Zagreb Main Station -Dugo Selo, is operated byCroatian Railways and mainly covers the eastern and western parts of Zagreb, using theM102 corridor between Dugo Selo and Zagreb Main Station andM101 corridor between Zagreb Main Station and Savski Marof.[78]
With 21 trains, the Zagreb suburban railway mainly covers the eastern and western parts of Zagreb. It mostly operates on the same standard-gauge lines used forCroatian Railways' long-distance trains. The trains normally operate on a 15-minute frequency, but reach only a portion of the city's suburbs. Most commuters use theM102 corridor betweenDugo Selo andZagreb Main Station andM101 corridor between Zagreb Main Station andSavski Marof/Harmica.[78] Traffic experts criticise the location of railway stations on the east-west line, as well as the fact that the bus lines are running parallel to the east-west rail line, further exacerbating road congestion. There is a north-south corridor connecting the neighborhoods ofRemetinec (M202) andSveta Klara (M502), but they are not commonly used due to the time gap between trains arriving being on average longer than an hour and the lack of parking spaces near the aforementioned stations, even though they provide the fastest access fromNovi Zagreb to the city centre, with the travel time of 8–9 minutes.
Since the system started operating, the lines have been serviced byHŽ series 6111EMU's built byGanz. In 2011, a prototype of a new series of EMU trains for suburban traffic of the City of Zagreb was handed over to the Croatian Railways for use by theKONČAR Group (series6112-1 and 6112–2; suburban version). Between 2015 and 2023, an additional 27 sets of the 6112 series were delivered, gradually replacing all 6111 sets on the suburban lines.[79][80]
Zagreb Franjo Tuđman Airport (IATA:ZAG,ICAO:LDZA) is the main Croatian international airport, a 17 km (11 mi) drive southeast of Zagreb in the city ofVelika Gorica. The airport is also the main Croatian airbase featuring a fighter squadron, helicopters, as well as military and freighttransport aircraft.[81] The new passenger terminal was opened in late March 2017 at a cost of €243 million that can accommodate up to 5.5 million passengers a year. It had 3.45 million passengers in 2019, and in 2025 it hit record high of 4.72 million, making itthe busiest airport in Croatia andone of the busiest airports in Europe. Zagreb Airport is the only airport in Croatia that has direct flights withCanada, and one of two (withDubrovnik Airport) to have direct flights withNorth America.[82] The airport is served by a bus line fromEugen Kvaternik Square.[83]
Zagreb also has a second, smaller airport,Lučko Airfield (ICAO:LDZL). It is home to sports airplanes, airplanes for training purposes of the Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences, a Croatian special police unit, as well as being a military helicopter airbase. Lučko used to be the main airport of Zagreb from its opening in 1947 until 1959.[84][85] A third, small grass airfield, Buševec, is located just outsideVelika Gorica. It is primarily used for sports purposes.[86]
The first airfield in the city was built in 1909 inČrnomerec, recording it’s first takeoff a year later whenSlavoljub Penkala took a test flight with abiplane. A new airport was built in 1926 inBorongaj, and although it was replaced by the Lučko Airfield in 1947 as the city’s main airport, it remained in use until 1962. It was used as an air base by theLuftwaffle duringWW2, and had suffered damage from bombardment by theallies.[87] Zagreb Airport was established at its present location in 1962; it has since undergone several phases of expansion.[84]
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The riverSava flows through the city, but it is not navigable in Zagreb and the nearest port is located inSisak. The city has had a history of flooding,[88] and following the lastcatastrophic flood in 1964, when inundation affected 60 square kilometres (23 sq mi) of inner-city territory, city authorities had built a system oflevées to protect itself from Sava, together with a discharge canalSava-Odra, completed in 1971. Since then the city's waterside has been strictly isolated, spanned only by three central bridges between the north of Zagreb andNovi Zagreb in the south. Later, seven more bridges were built in the west and the east, also over the levees.
