Latvia’s transport council to review regional fares as ministry seeks to keep travel discounts

Latvia’s Public Transport Council will review fares and ticket revenue on subsidised regional routes at an online meeting at 13:00 on Friday, 13 November, the LETA news agency reported, citing the Road Transport Directorate. The agenda also includes discounts for Jūrmala residents on trains between Riga and Ķemeri, state funding for the Gulbene–Alūksne narrow-gauge railway in 2027, train discounts for school trips and changes to the regional route network.

Three options

The Transport Ministry is weighing three options in a report on public transport for 2027–2030. Its preferred one is to find an extra €15 million a year, which would keep the route network intact, raise fares by 10% on average and leave the current system of concessions unchanged. If the money is not found, the ministry proposes raising fares by 10% on average and capping state support for concessions at 70% of the ticket price. Without extra funding, about 794 bus services would have to be cut.

“Changing concessions for certain groups in society is a last resort. The final decision will be for the next government,” Transport Minister Rihards Kozlovskis said in a ministry statement. Kaspars Bērziņš, a deputy state secretary at the ministry, stressed that it would “in no case be an automatic cut in concessions”. The report is still being agreed with other institutions and will then go to the cabinet.

What it means for passengers

People with group I and II disabilities, disabled children under 18 and those accompanying them currently travel free on regional and city routes; on regional routes, so do pre-school children and several other groups. Compensating for concessions cost €26.2 million last year, almost 28% of all public transport funding. With 70% state support, a passenger who now travels free would pay €3.57 for a trip from Riga to Rēzekne, for example.

Patient organisations oppose cutting concessions for people with disabilities, the Welfare Ministry does not support the report in its current form, and Ombudsman Karina Palkova said public transport funding problems must not be solved at the expense of children and people with disabilities.