Andrei Zografski, « Save Sofia »: the red zone will be smaller than the blue and the yellow will be on the weekend
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The Blue Zone in Sofia was filled with an average of 94%, and in the hour range between 11am and 5pm – up to 100%, found a municipal survey of a year ago. Half solutions as a low emission area in winter alone do not have effect on 800,000 cars with Sofia registration. Andrei Zografski of Save Sofia is deputy chairman of the Municipal Transport Committee and will soon submit a project for a comprehensive parking reform in the city with colleagues. He grew up in Skopje, graduated from finance and financial management in Ljubljana and as a student is interested in infrastructure and urban planning. Even then, he met the founders of the Sofia Save the Subway Association, which grew into Save Sofia.
– It is true that the reform of parking has not been made since 2012 and to date the parameters of the paid parking areas are inadequate. The center is overwhelmed by many inlet cars, there are too many business subscriptions, and almost all institutions are unlawfully occupying parking spaces. All this needs to be changed so that residents in the center have more peace of mind, but also for the ones to have more free parking spaces.
Our main focus and priority is to arrange the city – to put order in parking and at the same time to significantly improve public transport as an alternative to cars, as well as to start a truly ambitious program for the construction of new condominium parking lots. That is why we have been proposing this parking reform for five years. We also brought it in the past term and received support, but for some of its parts.
Only one component of them is the introduction of a red zone into the historic center. At the request of the residents, we change the working hours of the area to the strict center and it will be valid from 9 am to 9 pm (now it is 8 to 8 pm). This measure will protect the residents in the center so that they can find it easier to find parking spaces.
| Observations show that in the morning before 9 o’clock there is no serious load at the center, at the expense of evening when people come by car at a theater, restaurant or cinema. We want to encourage them not to come to the center by car, because public transport is well developed, and objectively there is no room for infinitely many cars in the historical part of Sofia. |
In the evening and weekends, we have a serious overload at the center when it is difficult for residents to find parking spaces. Therefore, the Red Zone will work every day, including on Sunday.
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We work and will soon propose for discussion with the citizens a package of measures that do not only apply to the center, but also to some of the neighborhoods, and the change of rules aims to arrange the urban environment, to bring order to the movement and to improve living conditions. I believe that the Sophians have long been intolerant of the mass breach of the rules and are dissatisfied against parking on sidewalks, green spaces and playgrounds.
Will the red zone with a higher fee be?
– It must be. There are several objective criteria that we follow and analyze that can give the direction. The final decision has not been made yet, but my personal opinion is that it should be about 4 leva/hour.
As I said, the price of the area has not changed since 2012, when the average salary in Sofia was three times lower than the current one. Then an average salary came to buy 500 hours of parking in the center, while the current number is over 1500 hours.
Paid parking areas have not been in market market for a long time and do not fulfill their role in regulating parking.
This means that price parking in the center is three times more accessible than 10 years ago, and it should not be the case.
The Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (Mar. – a strategic document in the field of transport adopted by the Municipal Council) states that if the average filling of the area is over 85%, then something must be adjusted – to become more inaccessible, that is, to apply the market and supply market principle. Since we have such a high demand, it is normal for the price to adjust in the conditions of extremely limited offering of parking spaces in the center.
Will the Red Zone be the present blue?
– No, it will be more limited – only some of the sub -zones in the blue zone show parameters that determine the transition to the red.
It is basically about the historical center, ie. A small zone north of Dondukov Blvd. to Exarch Joseph Street, the First Urban Ring, that is, on Vasil Levski Blvd., and with a report on Gen. Gurko to Evlogi and Hristo Georgiev Blvd. from the red zone at the request of the residents there.
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Will the price of vignette stickers be raised for residents in the red zone?
– As I said, our main goal is to make the life of the residents in the center more relaxed. In this context, if there is an increase in the price of the vignette sticker at all, it will be really minimal as to achieve an objective balance with a blue and green zone, because we do not want to obtain a mechanical transfusion of traffic to the adjacent cheaper area.
The rules are invented to improve the quality of life throughout the city and not to stimulate the use of a car in the center, where there are three metro lines and dozens of ground public transport.
The blue and green areas are mainly loaded with cars of those living there.
– That is why the filling in the time section of 10am to 16 hours is measured, when the residents are supposed to be at work and park mainly entry.
Another extremely important change is to enlarge the current sub -zones for parking with vignette stickers. We are considering shaping two or three (from the present six) to have the residents a larger spatial perimeter where they have the right to park.
This is extremely important, say, for the current third sub -zoning (around the National Palace of Culture and Patriarch Evtimiy Blvd.), where there are over 700 seats deficiency, while at the same time there are places in excess in the neighboring fourth sub -zonone (around the National Theater). With the combination of sub-zones, we will balance the load and allow for more flexibility when parking.
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And is an extension of the blue and green areas foreseen?
– In fact, we will suggest that the areas become four types. The Red Zone – in the strict historical center; Blue, which is concentrated to expand around the red. It will increase because, for example, Macedonia Blvd. is currently a green zone. There is no way a red and green zone can border, because everyone will run into the green (1 BGN/h) and there will be a deterioration of the quality of life. Therefore, the areas should be expanded concentrically.
We offer the yellow zone on holidays and holidays in the Bankya and Pancharevo areas, because then many cars are clustered there.
We envisage the expansion of the green zone in the neighborhoods, where this discussion has been conducted for years and has both public expectation and an objective transport need – « Izgrev », « Slatina », « Krasno selo », « Serdika ». This has been repeatedly discussed with both residents and district mayors.
And if there is resistance from citizens who do not want?
– In the obvious lack of police in the city, people must clearly understand that there is no other control body that can put order in the traffic other than the Municipal Center for Urban Mobility (CGM). But he has no authority to deal with areas where no (paid) zone is introduced. This anarchy cannot continue – to gas the green areas, to park on the sidewalks …
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Are new parking lots in the center planned?
– We will soon introduce a program for new parking lots, which steps on several pillars.
We studied 300 municipal terrain, suitable for the construction of floor garages, after which we reduced them to 30 most priority in Sofia.
In the center we are working for three new underground garages – one will be under Gurko Street between the National Stadium and the Sports Chamber. The second option is under the Vazrajdane Square. And there is a project, we are currently doing an assignment to be reworked to go to several levels underground. The potential is huge there, perhaps, for over 1000 parking spaces, but it will be an expensive and long investment, because in practice it is like building a metro station, and it has been built for about three years. And under Maria Louisa Blvd. Between « Lion’s Bridge » next to the Central Station, the whole space can become parking, but this project is at a very initial stage.
| There is another important priority – we will seriously reduce official subscriptions. They are about 2000 office parking spaces and an additional over 1000 usurped by the institutions, ie. A total of 3000 parking spaces. |
From the official subscriptions, the municipality What revenue receives?
– Most institutions pay zero levs. The National Assembly is the most striking example of the conquered public terrains, with the very heart of the city. Parliament has shifted to the Old Party House, but the parking lot on Alexander Nevski Square remained, as well as that of Zhelyu Zhelev Square.
Both the Sofia Municipality and the Urban Mobility Center receive zero levs for those 350 parking spaces that the deputies have taken over.
The Supreme Administrative Court seized the entire sidewalk along Alexander Stamboliyski Blvd., opposite the Ministry of Culture, the sidewalk was also occupied by cars. An extremely striking case is the Ministry of Transport, which has 18 parking spaces on Gurko Street, which have some contract between Mr. Borisov when he was mayor (2005-2009) and the then minister. This has long been unlawful and the municipality does not do anything for this parking lot for nearly 20 years. We want to release these parking spaces and return them for free use by citizens.
This will be done by introducing much stricter restrictions on the maximum number of places in a business subscription mode that are allowed at an address. We have already developed the methodology and are expecting support from society and political parties in the City Council.
