MPs approved in first reading the Public Transport Act and the introduction of a single ticket

The Parliament adopted in first reading the draft law on public transport, which provides for the unification of passenger transport for all types of transport in the country within a single legal framework.

The texts were supported by 127 MPs from GERB-SDS, "We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria", "DPS – New Beginning", "BSP – United Left", "There Is Such a People", "Alliance for Rights and Freedoms", as well as by three independent MPs who are not members of parliamentary groups. The votes against came from "Vazrazhdane", whose representatives warned that the bill carried risks for small carriers. The MPs from "Moral, Unity, Honor" and "Velichie", as well as one independent MP, abstained.

During the debate, it was emphasized that the project is among the key bills related to receiving the next payment under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP).

The bill provides for the creation of a National System for a single transport document as part of the Intelligent Public Transport Management System. The construction of this system is in implementation of the National Transport Management Plan and aims to introduce a single transport document – the so-called Single Ticket – within a new legislative framework for a single National Transport Scheme.

The project provides for the Minister of Transport and Communications to approve the National Transport Scheme, which will include agreed timetables on regular lines for passenger transport by rail, road, air, inland water transport or sea cabotage. The train schedules in the National Transport Scheme will be leading in the planning and preparation of the general, intercity and municipal transport schemes. The national scheme will be updated annually.

When assigning obligations to perform public passenger transport services – by rail, road, inland water or sea cabotage transport, by air, as well as when transporting passengers on request – the determination of key performance indicators is provided for. These include punctuality, regularity, accessibility for people with disabilities and people with reduced mobility, cleanliness, passenger satisfaction, number of incidents and accidents, energy efficiency, carbon emissions, complaints and signals.

These indicators will be an integral part of the contracts for the assignment of public passenger transport. To measure them, the assignors will introduce and apply a "bonus-malus" system, through which the amount of "reasonable profit" will be corrected. It is explicitly stated that the amount of the reasonable profit will be between 5% and 10%.

The acting Minister of Transport and Communications Korman Ismailov stressed from the parliamentary tribune that the previous minister and his team had invested a lot of work and effort in the preparation of the bill. He emphasized the importance of the document, as according to him it represents "a revolutionary level of development of transport and of the country as a whole".

The chairman of the parliamentary transport and communications commission Kiril Dobrev from "BSP – United Left" stated that the bill was ready to be proposed for a second reading during today's plenary session. However, "Vazrazhdane" and PP-DB announced their intention to submit their proposals between the first and second readings. In the end, the MPs decided to shorten the deadline for submitting proposals between the two readings to three days.