It will be reported remotely, and the fine will be paid through online banking – with a card or virtual wallet.
In order for this to happen, however, changes must be made to the Road Traffic Act, as well as to municipal ordinances, mayors commented during a forum dedicated to the role of municipalities in green transformation and digitalization, organized by the Association of Bulgarian Cities and regions.
“The law now states that placing a clamp is a coercive administrative measure, which is implemented with a “clamp” type of technical device. The wording should be expanded and an electronic or digital bracket should be recorded,” commented the director of the Center for Urban Mobility in the capital, Dimitar Dilchev, as quoted by “Telegraf”.
When the change in question is made, municipalities will be able to introduce their own regulation. From next May, 20 “smart” cars will start operating in Sofia, which will register improperly parked cars.
“I received an SMS. I paid remotely. My car was released. I went after that and got it. There was no bracket,” said Stoyan Damyanov, who has already tried the new technology.
There are several options for a digital bracket in the capital. One cannot yet be installed, but its future application is part of the analysis of the overall transport scheme of the capital.
Possibilities are discussed, for example, to declare in an application that you accept to be fitted with a digital brace, receive a message about the sanction and pay remotely.
It is also an option to put a sheet with a bank account instead of a metal bracket on the car, and if the fine is not paid within the specified time, to limit the “paid parking” service, and in case of a second violation, to put the real bracket and pay for both violations.
Other options are being considered, which will save time and nerves, but will also act as prevention.
“The best option is when there is a legal basis and it is regulated what the clamp is and how the violation is ascertained. However, our vision for a digital clamp is not only related to the regulatory framework, but with another intermediate step,” commented Nikolay Nedyalkov, owner of a company for intelligent traffic systems.
According to him, when a clamp is put on the car, the driver can receive a notification in a special application and if he decides to say “confirm” automatically with one click, the clamp will be removed. That is, the whole process runs digitally without physical intervention.
“This is a long process – first it is analyzed, then proposals are made in the regulations, it is discussed and accepted by the municipal council, and only then it is returned to the contractor,” Nedyalkov added.
According to him, ground zero for such projects is to remove paper from the system entirely. Including the controllers to use the phone camera and record the violation with a video stream.
This is already working on the ground in Plovdiv. In Varna, however, this process was almost completely completed, because parking is completely digital, paper coupons have been removed.
Plovdiv has the most payment methods. It can be paid at parking meters that are now digital. There, the system is being upgraded with an application that will show what the load is not only in the blue and green zone, but also in the municipal and private parking lots, as well as the locations of the charging stations.
An integrated system is also being worked on in Sofia. Pilot projects for “smart” transport service are underway in Veliko Tarnovo, Gabrovo, Burgas and other cities. They will be announced in May.
“When the system is based on artificial intelligence, it begins to learn itself. Foreign developments are adapted and fine adjustments are made in the process of work, but the future is in integrated systems that save time, and this is an extremely valuable resource,” Nikolay pointed out Nedyalkov.
