site.btaSofia Mayor: Municipality to Build Nine New Parking Lots With Over 2,000 Parking Spaces

The Sofia Municipality plans to build nine new parking lots in the capital, which will provide over 2,000 additional parking spaces within the next 12-18 months, Sofia Mayor Vasil Terziev said on Monday. The parking lots are planned in the neighbourhoods of Ovcha Kupel, Ilinden, Nadezhda, Serdika, Poduyane, Krasno Selo and Mladost, with some located near metro stations to serve as buffer parking lots.

"This is the first step in a longer-term policy to solve the parking problem in Sofia. Our goal is not separate, piecemeal initiatives, but a sustainable model that will allow for the rapid implementation of more parking lots in the coming years," Terziev emphasized. He said that the projects will be implemented through a public-private partnership and will remain municipal property, with some of the projects to include additional public functions, such as green roofs or sports facilities as well.

Sofia Deputy Mayor for Transport Viktor Chaushev said that Sofia is among the cities with the highest motorization in Europe, with over 750 cars per 1,000 inhabitants, which creates serious pressure on the urban environment. He noted that the implementation of the parking lots is part of a broader package of measures to control the automobile pressure in the capital, stressing that proximity to metro stations and main transport corridors is a key criterion for the new parking lots to encourage combined travel and the use of public transport.