No More Park & Ride? Sofia’s Buffer Parking Overhaul Sparks Backlash After 800% Price Hike

The decision to change the operating rules of two major buffer parking facilities in Sofia has triggered strong public backlash and raised doubts about the real motives behind the move. The parking lots next to the James Boucher and Vasil Levski Stadium metro stations will no longer function under the Park and Ride model, instead shifting to a standard paid system with hourly rates and monthly subscriptions.

According to the municipality, the change follows findings of widespread misuse. Deputy Mayor for Transport Viktor Chaushev said many drivers had obtained public transport cards solely to benefit from free parking in central areas, without actually using metro or other public transport services. In his words, this practice undermined the purpose of buffer parking, which is meant to encourage commuters to leave their cars outside the city center and continue their journey by public transport.

Under the new regime, subscription prices have also been revised. At the James Boucher parking lot, the monthly fee has been lowered from 184 euros to 140 euros. At the Vasil Levski Stadium facility, however, the subscription price remains unchanged at 184 euros per month.

Despite these adjustments, regular users argue that the real impact on working commuters is far more severe than the municipality admits. Many say the decision effectively removes an existing benefit rather than correcting abuses. Long-time user Ekaterina Vitkova told Nova TV that for those who complied with the rules, the increase is dramatic. Until now, she explained, a monthly metro card costing 35 leva allowed access to free parking. Under the new system, drivers are expected to pay 280 leva (140 euros), which she calculated as an eightfold increase, or roughly 800 percent.

Vitkova and others also questioned the lack of publicly available data justifying the move. They say no clear analysis has been presented showing how many people actually violated the rules or how serious the abuse was. In their view, the municipality opted for a blanket measure instead of targeted controls.

Some drivers have proposed alternative solutions, such as checking licence plates and tracking whether parked vehicles are genuinely linked to metro use. They argue that this would allow authorities to penalise offenders directly, without punishing all users through higher prices.

There are also concerns about wider consequences for traffic in the capital. According to frequent users, the higher costs may discourage people from using buffer parking altogether, pushing more cars into Sofia’s already crowded central areas. This, they warn, could further overload the Green and Blue parking zones, worsening congestion rather than easing it.