In the next two days, Banja Luka will host the second International Expert Conference "Safe Urban Mobility", abbreviated as "BUM 2026", at which numerous scientific papers in the field of traffic and transport sciences will be presented.

The organizer and host of the meeting is the Pan-European University "Apeiron", and the conference was officially opened by the Acting Director of the Public Enterprise "Autoputevi Republika Srpska," Radovan Višković, emphasizing the importance of such gatherings of experts and the exchange of experience to improve the safety of all traffic participants.

-As we know, traffic safety is a global problem for humanity. Annually, traffic "carries away" about one million two hundred thousand people. This is a figure that has long since set off all the alarm bells and requires urgent action from the profession – said Višković, emphasizing that traffic has significantly influenced the development of civilization, the connection and exchange of goods, but on the other hand, it has brought numerous problems and certain harmful consequences for people's lives.

Director Višković said that in the era of globalization, one of today's problems is particularly pronounced, which is the abandonment of rural parts of an area, where raw materials and other resources are mainly concentrated, while at the same time filling up space in cities, which is reflected in uncontrolled population settlement and unimaginably rapid construction. The collapse of the urban environment, he stated, inevitably affects the traffic infrastructure, which is simply not enough to accommodate the increase in the number of vehicles and their daily use on city streets.

-All this leads to a decline in the quality of life in the city, because traffic congestion increases travel time, affects environmental pollution, and generally reduces the level of traffic safety. The position of the profession is to promote and affirm collective travel and create a "city without cars" environment, and this should be our strategic goal, said Director Višković, expressing hope that the Government of the Republic of Srpska will support the conclusions of this conference within its jurisdiction.

Director Višković recalled the importance of building modern road infrastructure and first-class roads, such as highways and expressways, because they significantly contribute to increasing the level of traffic safety.

-We are witnesses that on the routes where we have built highways, there has been a significant increase in the level of safety and a drastic reduction in the number of traffic accidents, especially those with fatal outcomes and with seriously injured persons - emphasized Višković, pointing out that for the Republika Srpska, the construction of a network of highways and expressways is a strategic, national project, the implementation of which is being worked on diligently.

The Public Enterprise "Autoputevi Republike Srpske", reminded Director Višković, is currently operating 111 kilometers of highways, and almost 120 kilometers of new highways are under construction in the next three to four years. He emphasized that this number does not currently include highway projects, which are being intensively prepared, as well as the Pan-European corridor, known as the Adriatic-Ionian Highway, which starts in Italy and leads to Greece, partly through the territory of the Republic of Srpska.

- Investments in this area reach three billion KM, and we believe that this is money well invested, because road infrastructure will significantly affect economic, business, transport, and every other type of development - concluded Višković, thanking the representatives of "Apeiron" for their efforts, who invest in improving the situation in the field of transport, organizing gatherings such as this conference.

The opening ceremony of the conference, in addition to Director Višković, was attended by the long-time Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republika Srpska, Nedeljko Čubrilović, the Mayor of Banja Luka, Draško Stanivuković, the Director of the Traffic Safety Agency, Saša Ilić, a large number of professors and doctors of traffic sciences, authors of scientific papers, and other participants.