The Parliamentary Committee on Labor, Demographic, and Social Policy has rejected the first vote on a bill to amend the Road Traffic Act, introduced by Venko Sabrutev and a group of MPs. In the decision-making process, four members supported the proposal, 14 abstained, and there were no votes "against".

The initiative proposes the creation of special short-term parking zones. These would allow parents to park their vehicles for a few minutes to drop off their children at school, kindergarten, or nursery. To avoid fines and fees during the stay, it is proposed that parents provide their vehicle's license plate number.

Venko Sabrutev explained that such a model is an established practice in the USA and in the best Western European countries. He assured that the introduction of these zones would not lead to negative consequences for residents' parking in the respective areas. If a municipal decision is required, each municipality will have the authority to assess for itself how many spaces are needed for such short-term stays.

The question of the need for such zones becomes even more pressing given the demographic situation in the capital. Sabrutev pointed out that Sofia faces a shortage of eight thousand places in nurseries and kindergartens, which often forces children to attend facilities outside their residential areas. This makes short-term parking more essential during transport.

The positions of the political groups within the committee vary. Georgi Georgiev from "Vazrazhdane" announced that they will support the proposed bill and emphasized that municipalities should be required to adopt such regulations, while assessing their own capacity to provide spaces based on existing infrastructure. For her part, Galya Vasileva of the GERB-SDS parliamentary group also confirmed her support, adding that changes could be made between the first and second readings to make the bill more beneficial for society.

The decision on the bill will determine the rules for short-term parking in front of kindergartens and schools across the country, including Burgas.

Georgi Petrov from "Progressive Bulgaria" expressed skepticism regarding the ability of every childcare facility to provide such spaces. He noted that while imposing a mandatory measure on municipalities might be a good idea for Sofia Municipality, similar issues regarding stay durations are not observed in other large cities like Plovdiv and Burgas.