Ljubljana Council Approves New 2026 Mobility Plan, Updates Housing Eligibility Rules

Ljubljana City Council concluded its July 7 session with binding votes on two measures that will directly affect how tens of thousands of residents move around the city and whether low-income households qualify for subsidised accommodation. The council passed an updated Urban Mobility Action Plan for 2026 to 2030 and revised the points-based allocation criteria for municipal social housing, both decisions taking effect in the final quarter of this year.

The timing matters. Ljubljana has been under sustained pressure from the European Commission to align its urban transport policy with the EU's Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans framework, which member states are required to embed in municipal planning cycles by the end of 2026. At the same time, demand for social housing managed by the Javni stanovanjski sklad Mestne občine Ljubljana, the city's public housing fund, has outpaced available units for three consecutive years, according to the fund's annual report published in April.

What the Mobility Plan Changes for Commuters

The approved mobility plan commits the city to extending the Karoška cesta bus corridor in Šiška by two stops and increasing peak-hour frequency on Line 6, which connects Fužine to the city centre, from every 15 minutes to every 10 minutes. Both changes are projected to be operational by October 2026. The plan also designates four additional streets in the Tabor and Poljane neighbourhoods as low-emission zones, restricting diesel vehicles registered before Euro 5 standards from entering during morning and afternoon rush hours, defined as 07:00 to 09:00 and 15:00 to 18:00 on weekdays. Residents who own older vehicles and live within those zones must apply for a residential exemption permit through the Mestna občina Ljubljana portal before September 15; the council's transport committee says the permit process will be free of charge.

Cyclists and pedestrians will see a direct benefit in Trnovo, where the plan funds a 1.2-kilometre extension of the existing protected cycling lane along Emonska cesta, connecting it to the Hradeckega ulica junction. The city has budgeted 870,000 euros for that stretch, drawn from the EU Cohesion Fund allocation confirmed in the municipality's 2026 capital expenditure plan.

Social Housing: Who the New Rules Help and Who Must Wait Longer

The revised allocation criteria shift the weighting used to rank applicants on the municipal waiting list. Households with children under the age of six will receive an additional 15 points under the updated system, up from 8 points previously. Single-person households under 30 will no longer qualify for the largest two-bedroom units unless no smaller units are available, a change the council's social affairs committee says is intended to improve matching between unit size and household need. Families caring for a registered disabled person at home retain their existing priority status unchanged.

As of June 30, the Javni stanovanjski sklad held 4,218 active social rental units across the municipality. The waiting list carried 2,104 approved applicants at the same date. The fund's April report noted an average wait of 4.2 years for a one-bedroom unit and 6.7 years for a two-bedroom unit, figures the council cited during the debate as justification for the recalibration. The new criteria apply to applications submitted from November 1 onward; existing applicants already on the list retain their current points totals but will be re-ranked against incoming applications using the updated formula.

Residents with pending applications are advised to log into the MOL e-portal to review their current points standing once the new formula is published there, which the housing fund says will happen no later than September 30. For the mobility changes, affected vehicle owners in Tabor and Poljane can find the draft low-emission zone map on the city's website under the Trajnostna mobilnost section, with a public comment window open until July 28. Both policy texts will be submitted to the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia for formal publication within 30 days of the council session, after which they carry legal force.