Participating towns and cities

BulgariaBurgas, Bulgaria

Website:
www.burgas.bg
Population:
210.000 inhabitants
Contact:
Boian Popunkiov
ul Kliment Ohridski 3
Strategic Planning Directorate
Burga, Bulgaria
8000 Burgas

Participation 2012

Activities within the week Activities within the week

Burgas organises activities during EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK 2012, taking into account the annual theme.

All week
The campaign will start with a mass marathon from the most popular and visible point of the city-the central square "Troikata". It will pass through the major pedestrian streets "Alexandrovska" and "Bogoridi" ensuring highest visibility and voluntary citizen participation. Several intersections which are open to traffic will be closed during the marathon .The marathon will finish at the Pantheon situated in the Maritime garden. All participants will be given promotional T-shirts with the campaign's logo and will use the relaxation green zone and free wi-fi access provideded by VIVACOM.
They will have the opportunity to see a Retro bus exhibit positioned in an old graffiti designed bus showing the history of Public transport in Burgas and fill a questionnaire on PT services planned as all-week activities.An interactive city map collecting citizens' comments and visions of city zones will be later used in the process of developing a local SUMP.Promotional EMW card for PT will be available for purchase at significant discount. The PT operator-Burgasbus will also provide a free of charge "Call and get a ride" transport service for people with disabilities to the EMW activities. Bicycle procession and city tour for pedestrians and cyclists will reveal old legends and legacy of the city.Other all week event relative to the theme includes rollerblades for rent, EMW banners for slowing down traffic and reducing speed in school and kindergarten areas that will ensure higher safety to students and childrens.A demonstration show on wheels including skaters, bikers and bladers will be the closing event of the EMW. A 3rd mobility forum gathering local stakeholders around the process of developing the local SUMP will be held. Festival streets -the living city will start the night of Friday with traffic closed intersections of the pedestrian street "Bogoridi" which will then bring a lot of festival atmosphere with music performances by the brass band and street performances of the national puppet theatre. On Saturday-an exposition of electric bicycles, bike market and bike repair zones will be available to cyclists and also the opportunity for mass picnic in the Maritime garden.Followed by the demonstration show on wheels which will later grow into disco night on wheels and will close the week of events. A city bike will be award the winner of the Photoreportage competition which will bring the best pictures memorizing all week events. A video of all best photographs will be made after the EMW and will continue promoting the alternative modes of transport even after the campaign.

Permanent measures Permanent measures

Burgas implements one or more new permanent measure(s), which contribute(s) to modal transfer from private car to environmentally sound means of transport.

New or improved bicycle facilities
Improvement of bicycle network (creation of new lanes, extension, renovation, signposting etc)
Develop public bicycle hiring and sharing systems
Improvement of bicycle facilities (parking, locks etc)
Pedestrianisation
Improvement of infrastructure (new foot bridges, pavements, road crossings, zebra crossings etc)
Extension or creation of new greenways
zebra crossing with speed reducing furniture in school and kindergarten zones for traffic calming
Public transport services
Improvement and extension of the public transport network (creation of HOV lanes for public transport modes, new stops, new lines, reserved areas etc)
Improvement and extension of the public transport services (express services, increase frequency etc)
Use of ecological vehicles for public transport fleets
Development of new technologies to improve public transport
Launch of integrated services for the various public transport modes
The development of accessible transport services for all
Traffic calming and access control scheme
Reduction of outside parking zones
Create park and ride stations
Accessibilities
Create the tactile pavements
Create wheelchair ramps
Lowering of pavements
Elaboration of sound devices in traffic lights
Launch of accessibility plans
Mobility management
Launch of awareness-raising campaigns
Development of travel plans / mobility plans in consultation with local stakeholders
Permanent access restriction to city centres
Launch of seamless transport modes to facilitate access to business areas or other social areas
Development of systems and equipment for measuring air quality in public places
Organisation of regular fora or surveys on public opinions and ideas
Further info
This year the Municipality of Burgas is working on introducing a bike-sharing public system with stations at 12 places around the city connecting the residential areas with the city centre and promoting the bicycle as an effective, healthy and sustainable mode of transport.
The Municipality is also expanding the blue zone paid parking areas especially in the city centre in order to lower the use of private veicles by making it more expensive thus also contributing to the promotion of public and alternative modes of transport, enlargement of pedestrian zones and better order in the shared urban areas.
Another permanent measure is Burgas integrated urban trasport project which includes the construction of bus stops, bus terminal, bus rapid transit lane,cycling route network and pedestrian bridges. The specific needs of people with disabilities will be taken into consideration when the infrastructural elements are constructed.
Bus stops and bus terminals are planned to ensure access for disabled people.
The facilities at the bus terminals will be suitable for wheelchairs (waiting room, ticket office, toilets). The platforms at the bus terminals will be equipped with a ramp in the curb stone to provide easy access for passengers with reduced mobility and wheelchairs.All the requirements for bus stop accessibility has been set up in the technical specifications for bus stop layout in the Concession of bus stops in Burgas municipality. Bus stops must be located to allow passengers to board and alight safely and conveniently.When constructing the cycling route network and pedestrian bridges all requirements of Regulation 4/01.07.2009 on technical design, implementation, and maintenance of construction in accordance with the requirements for accessible environment including people with disabilities will be observed. The project will introduce also new integrated ticketing system, real time passenger information system at stops and in vehicles.
Another permanent measure will be provded by the end result of the project “Attractive urban public transport for accessible cities- ATTAC”. It will develop a local SUMP to improve coordination, promotion, planning and operation of urban/agglomeration public transportation networks by introducing attractive and sustainable PT solutions and services to raise the share of public/collective transportation modes.

Car-free day Car-free day

Burgas carries out a Car-Free Day 2012 and closes off one or more streets to traffic, and opens it to pedestrians, cyclists and public transport.

Zone opened to residents on Car-Free Day:
The zones restricted to private cars will be the intersections of the old largo-"Bogoridi" street, most preferred by pedestrians. "Lermontov" and "Fotinov" streets also provide a great access to wonderful museum exhibitions located in the Historical museum, Archaeological museum, Ethnographic museum, and museum for Natural sciences. These streets are also very picturesque in terms of old houses and architectural buildings which keep city's history and legacy.As such they are most loved by locals and that is why the event "Festival streets" will start from these streets positioning a puppet theatre, street performances and brand bass music on these locations.Additionally part of a major street -"Repulicanska" will be closed during the bicycle procession in order to provide better visibility of the campaign and bring along visually the message:"Moving in the right direction"