Sofia2023-11-21T16:36:38+00:00

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CLIMABOROUGH Tender

Tender challenges /
Sofia

Sofia is the capital city of Bulgaria with 1.3 million inhabitants. Among the main environmental problems it faces, there are the high levels of harmful emissions and noise pollution. Sofia main goal is to reduce the use of personal cars, which may have a positive impact on air quality and climate change mitigation. 

Envisaged solution

Sofia is looking for a socio-technical systems based on smart combinations of software and hardware (such as IoT sensors, VCR, GPS and AI plate recognition systems) that:

  • collects relevant data from a certain area of the city centre’s blue zone
  • defines the volume of car traffic searching for available parking spots and provide information regarding the parking occupancy rates.

Such information can and should be provided to the City Hall as well as to the car drivers by means of suitable mobile apps.

Information on the location of the experimentation

The target area for monitoring of the occupancy rate and volume of search traffic should be within the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th subzones of the “Blue” parking zone and should include at least 8 city blocks. The smallest group of buildings that is surrounded by streets is considered as a city block. This is necessary because in those subzones the majority of streets are one-way and it would be difficult to identify the search traffic for available parking spots if a smaller zone is monitored. 

Location of the experimentation area (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th subzones of the “Blue” parking zone)

A detailed map of all the subzones is available here:

https://www.sofiatraffic.bg/media/uploads/SZ_zona_prilozhenie%2010.png

Existing municipal traffic cameras – licence plate recognition systems.

There are cameras at every entry/exit street of the area surrounded by: “Vasil Levski” Blvd., “Patriarch Evtimii” Blvd., “Gen. Skobelev” Blvd., Opalchenska Str., Slivnitsa Blvd. (blue area on the map below).

Location of the existing cameras

Specific requirements

  • Solutions that promote datasets creation, including data acquisition by IoT sensors/VCR/GPS or AI plate recognition systems and the collection of real time environmental data
  • Solutions that allow relevant data visualizations, both for remote monitoring purposes and to improve decision making
  • Solutions that integrate created datasets and embed visualisation functions in a single tool;
  • Solutions that embed gamification and/or educational aspects, such as general or specific advice on how to improve one’s own driving behaviour, understand data visualisations, etc.
  • Solutions that are promptly available as applications (for smartphones and tablet PCs, on Android and/or IOS operating systems).

Minimum requirements

Data usage

The solution should at least rely on the following datasets:

  • on-street parking places for short-term parking in the designated area
  • resident permits database for the subzone selected for intervention

Data availability – “The provider should at least use the following datasets made available by the City”

    • geo locations of vehicles paid by mobile appThe provider should at least use the following datasets made available by the City:
      • on-street parking spots for short-term parking
      • vehicles entered/exited the low-emission zone by licence plates
      • resident permits for the subzone selected for intervention
      • electric vehicles permits
      • inspections by control units

Data generation

The solution should at least generate the following datasets”:

  • available parking spaces
  • occupancy rate per date/time/time periods – weekdays/weekends
  • forecast data for available parking spaces
  • search traffic volume for available parking spots
  • share of parked cars having a resident’s permit within the designated area
  • share of parked electric vehicles

Data visualisation

The solution should at least enable visualisation of the following datasets:

  • available parking spaces within the designated area
  • occupancy rate per date/time/time periods – weekdays/weekends
  • forecast data for available parking spaces
  • search traffic volume for available parking spots
  • share of parked cars having a resident’s permit within the designated area
  • share of parked electric vehicles within the designated area

Socio—technical solution A

The active engagement of citizens should at least be ensured during the 12 months of experimentation.

Socio—technical solution B

The way active engagement of citizens will contribute to a better performance of the solution should be described in detail.

Socio—technical solution C 

A minimum number of 50 citizens should be engaged by the provider during the 12 months of experimentation

Socio—technical solution D

The solution should at least demonstrate impacts on the following citizen behaviours: reduction of “parasite” search traffic for available parking spots by residents, commuters, delivery companies, local businesses / retailers within the designated area

Socio—technical solution E 

The provider should at least involve the following local stakeholders during the 12 months of experimentation”:

  • Sofia Municipality
  • Sofia Urban Mobility Centre
  • NGOs – cycling, environment, transport
  • Local businesses / retailers within the designated area

Privacy

Use of the solution should not imply the release of personal data unless for specific and motivated purposes

Sandbox

The provider should specify which rules/regulations should be temporarily lifted for the purpose of the experimentation

Scalability

The provider should specify how the solution can be scaled from the site of experimentation to the broad City level

Transferability

The provider should specify the conditions under which the same solution can be adopted by other Cities with similar challenges

Local event about the challenge

DOWNLOAD THE RECORDING AND THE SLIDES OF THE LOCAL EVENT (NOV. 13, 2023)

To participate to the tender, please read our tender documentation, this page is a simple overview about the Sofia challenge. To visit the documentation, click on the green button below.

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CLIMABOROUGH is a project,
co-funded by the European Union and CINEA, with the ambition to bridge the gap between design and implementation of urban innovations, particularly in the face of climatic change and its consequential needs for adaptation and mitigation.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

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