Sofia Municipality Proposes Changes to City Centre Parking Rules, Doubling Blue and Green Zone Rates to BGN 4 per Hour

Sofia Municipality has proposed changes to the parking regulations in the city centre. Key adjustments include increasing the hourly rates from the current BGN 2 for the blue zone to BGN 4, and from BGN 1 to BGN 2 for the green zone, as well as extending blue zone operation to Sundays.

The Mayor of Sofia, Vasil Terziev, together with the Chairman of the Sofia Municipal Council, Tsvetomir Petrov, and municipal councillors from the “We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria” group – Simeon Stavrev, Greti Stefanova, Dimitar Dimitrov, and Dimitar Petrov – submitted a report with proposals for amendments to the city’s parking regulations, according to the municipality’s press centre.

The proposals are based on a survey of 22,230 residents from across the city, described as the largest consultation on this topic to date. The survey provides a clear picture of citizens’ concerns and expectations. Respondents indicated that the main issue in the blue zone is the lack of parking spaces, forcing drivers to circle the area or park far from their homes.

Almost half of participants support the introduction of paid parking zones in Banishora, the southern districts up to Todor Kableshkov Boulevard, as well as in Reduta, Geo Milev, Iztok, and Izgrev. In existing green subzones (Centre, Oborishte, Ivan Vazov, Lozenets, etc.), there is support for increasing rates to reduce congestion. Another key finding of the survey is that residents of the blue zone want it to operate on Sundays, and 80% of citizens believe that official subscription permits should be limited.

Main proposals in the report include expanding the green zone to southern districts and high-demand areas such as Banishora, Reduta, Geo Milev, Izgrev, and Iztok, as well as converting some green subzones into blue zones. Working hours for all zones would be standardised from 08:30 to 20:30, with the blue zone operating on Sundays as well. Paper tickets would be eliminated, while existing parking duration limits would remain – 2 hours in the blue zone and 4 hours in the green zone.

The report also suggests a new allocation of parking revenue: part of the funds collected would remain with Sofia Municipality for the construction of car parks, pavements, and other infrastructure, while the remainder would go to the Centre for Urban Mobility.