The report also highlighted shortcomings in public transport, problems in monitoring urban services and delays in infrastructure projects. Even before the violent protests that began in Tirana, the road traffic management system had serious problems.
The latest audit report of the High State Control for road traffic in the Municipality of Tirana, published yesterday, highlights that more than half of the monitoring cameras on the capital's roads were not functioning even before they were damaged in recent weeks by protesters. According to the audit, more than half of the monitoring cameras did not transmit images, some traffic lights were not integrated into the central system, while investments to improve transport and road traffic have fallen significantly short of plans.
"Of the 71 cameras installed for traffic monitoring in the capital, 40, or 56.3%, were not transmitting images during the ALSHI verification on July 1, 2026, before the recent damage during the protests. For 11 cameras, the transmission interruption had lasted from two to seven years, while 14 others had been out of service for periods of one to seven months. The camera system was completed through a 2021 contract, worth about 59.9 million lek. The audit also found that the central platform for the simultaneous display of images was not functioning. Operators monitored the cameras individually on the computer, while 10 traffic lights were not integrated into the central system," the ALSHI report states, among other things.
The SAI report notes that problems existed at several traffic lights before the start of the violent protests.
On the other hand, the report also highlighted shortcomings in public transport, problems in monitoring urban services and delays in infrastructure projects. "Public transport program spending in the Municipality of Tirana increased from 325 million lek in 2023 to 1.53 billion lek in 2025. However, the vast majority of the funds were used for subsidies and reimbursements, including student and pensioner passes. Investments accounted for 13% of the program's spending in 2023 and 30% in 2024, but their implementation was zero. In 2025, investments accounted for only 4% of spending and were implemented at a rate of around 2%," the report further stated. Through the report, the SAI warns that the spending structure, mainly oriented towards subsidies, combined with the low implementation of investments, creates a risk of a lack of impact on improving road traffic and service quality. Over the course of three years, according to the ALSHI report, not even the level of investments planned for 2023 has been achieved.
