The development of bicycle infrastructure has permanently entered a dead end and the future of Sofia as a cleaner city, with various alternatives to cars, seems increasingly illusory. This is what the civic organizations “Veloevolutsiya”, “Sofenhagen”, “Za Zemiata” and “Bulgarian Electromobility Association”, warn about in a joint statement.
The specific commitments made in the election campaign and at the beginning of the mandate of the current administration of the capital for the development of bicycle mobility opportunities differ significantly from the actions of Sofia's rulers in recent months. Once again this week, the Sofia Municipal Council will consider the Sofia Municipality budget for 2025, and again it is unclear whether and which bicycle projects will be built. None of the many recommendations of civil society organizations from the public discussion of the budget are reflected in the proposals, they point out. The consideration of the capital's budget is on item 2 of the agenda of the Municipal Council meeting on June 26.
Unfulfilled commitments
The construction season is in full swing, and there is no work on Sofia's streets related to new bicycle infrastructure or the refreshment of the existing one. A large part of the already built bicycle paths and bicycle lanes are in a deplorable condition due to lack of maintenance – destroyed curbs, faded or completely erased markings, bumps and overhanging branches create a frankly hostile environment for cyclists and scooter users.
“We heard intentions for several new bicycle routes announced by the Deputy Mayor for Construction, Mr. Lyutov, at the public discussion in April. Unfortunately, we do not see them mentioned in specific budget items and they are fundamentally different from the projects that we have discussed as priorities for implementation with municipal employees in the bicycle working group over the last 8 months that the group has been working.” – shares Ivo Delin, chairman of the “Veloevolyutsia” association.
The organizations sent a letter to Mayor Vasil Terziev at the end of May with a request to meet and hold a session of the bicycle working group, to which they have not yet received a response. They insist on clarifying the situation and the specific upcoming steps to improve the conditions for active movement in the city by bicycle. The working group has not met since March, after the resignation of the deputy mayor for transport, despite numerous projects and processes that were initiated within it, which were awaiting their implementation.
An obstacle, but not for business interests
The volunteers from Sofenhagen, who are working on a map of the capital's bicycle network, recall: “In 2024, the bicycle lane on "N. Mushanov" Blvd. was deleted. They showed us a project for a new separate bicycle lane there, but we see nothing happening for its implementation. We are losing more and more of the already scarce bicycle network - deletion of routes, destroyed pavement, parking of cars on the bicycle lanes - complete chaos. We also understood that the municipality refuses to build a bicycle lane on Blvd. “St. Kl. Ohridski”, and proposes a concept for a bypass route without any clarity when we will be able to ride on it. How can we promote cycling when the municipality makes no effort at all to support active and clean mobility in the capital?”
When asked by citizens about the cycling ambitions of the Sofia Municipality, municipal councilors explain that the lack of a General Plan for the Organization of Traffic is the obstacle to the construction of new bike lanes. “It is interesting why the missing General Plan for the Organization of Traffic is not an obstacle to the construction and repair of streets, but only to the bike lanes? This is a plan that affects the entire organization of traffic in the entire municipality, not a bicycle plan. We do not understand why new and new excuses are being invented, after we have elected leaders with a declared priority for the development of cycling.” – asks the chairman of "Veloevolutsiya".
Sofia wants and can be a better city to live in for everyone
The Ecological Association “Za Zemiata” is also concerned, as last year they handed over to the Sofia Municipality a petition “For connected, convenient and safe bike lanes in Sofia” with over 5,000 signatures from citizens supporting the demands in it. In May, the association published a ranking of European cities convenient for active mobility for children. Sofia, as expected, is at the bottom of this ranking - a city that does not provide adolescents with enough opportunities to move actively and safely by bicycle, scooter or on foot.
The environmental organization points out that a week ago the world bicycle conference Velo-city 2025 was held in Gdansk, Poland. During the event, a number of wonderful examples of successful urban transformation in countries with which we can compare ourselves, such as Slovakia and Slovenia, were presented. Various municipalities there successfully help preschool children and students to use bicycles to get around the city.
Gdansk itself has also been working with citizens constantly and purposefully for the past 15 years to develop and support bicycle mobility. The result is that now 6% of daily movement of people there is done by bicycle, many of whom are children.
“By the same indicator, Sofia is stuck at a miserable under 1%. This must change. Sofia also wants and deserves normal conditions for active and clean mobility for children.” -– says Dragomira Raeva. “Unfortunately, Mayor Terziev's administration did not send anyone to represent Sofia at Velo-city and to learn from cities in the region that have similar conditions and challenges for urban mobility.”
“Veloevolutsiya”, “Sofenhagen”, “Za Zemiata” and “Bulgarian Association for Electromobility” await the actions of the capital administration and continue to insist on a meeting with Mayor Vasil Terziev and Deputy Mayor for Construction Nikola Lyutov in the foreseeable future.