SOFIA INTEGRATED URBAN TRANSPORT (FWL 20060411)

Integrated urban transport project promoted by the municipality of Sofia and co-financed with EU structural funds under the Bulgarian OP Regional Development. JASPERS has been involved in the project preparation.

The project aims to improve the quality of public transport service in terms of speed, comfort and reliability and will increase the attractiveness of public transport in the urban area, thus reducing reliance on private cars and the negative impact of transport on the environment.

The acquisition of trolleybuses does not fall under either Annex I or Annex II of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive 2011/92/EU. In addition, the tramline infrastructure works, which fall under Annex II of the directive, have been screened out from an EIA procedure. The overall impact of the project on the environment is expected to be positive due to the modal shift away from private cars towards public transport.

The promoter is subject to and follows EU directives on procurement procedures (in this particular case, Directives 2004/18/EC and 2007/66/EC (amending Directives 1989/665/EEC and 1992/13/EEC)), which require, for contracts over certain thresholds, a prior call for tender and publication in the EU Official Journal (OJEU) of the calls for tender and award notices.