Amendments to the Law on Road Transport: Bus Transport

The Parliament adopted key changes to the Law on Road Transport, opening a new chapter in the regulation of intercity bus transport. At a session, the deputies supported, on first and second reading, an addition that removes the obligation to use bus stations on intercity bus lines connecting municipalities with their administrative center.

The initiative for these changes was launched by Tsveta Karayancheva (GERB-SDS) and a group of parliamentarians. The proposers emphasized the need for the changes, explaining that the issue was raised by the residents of the Maritsa municipality. According to Karayancheva, the population of four municipalities – Dobrichka, "Maritsa", "Rodopi" and Tundzha, as well as 151 settlements, face significant difficulties in providing organized transport to their administrative centers, which are located outside the territory of the municipalities themselves.

The bill provides for the removal of the burden on carriers serving bus lines connecting settlements from a certain municipality with an administrative center located in another municipality. The main argument is that the mandatory use of bus stations leads to additional financial expenses, as these services are associated with fees. This, in turn, reduces the profitability of bus lines, which makes it difficult to provide transport services to remote settlements.

The debates in the plenary hall proceeded relatively quickly, but with great interest. After hearing the arguments, the addition to the Law on Road Transport was adopted on first reading unanimously. The result of the vote showed impressive support – 163 votes "for", without a single "against" or "abstaining". Deputies from all parliamentary groups supported the changes, with the exception of the representatives of the "Velichie" party, who did not participate in the vote. After that, without significant changes, the texts were adopted on second reading as well, which signals the parliament's readiness to respond to the needs of the citizens of these municipalities.