RIGA - The idea to charge a fee for driving motor vehicles into the city center is a simple populism, Riga Mayor Vilnis Kirsis (New Unity) said at a news conference, commenting on the proposal made by MP Ainars Slesers (Latvia First).
Slesers earlier said on social media that a EUR 3 entry fee should be introduced in the city center for drivers that do not have a declared residence in the capital. Public transport in Riga could be free for all passengers, the Latvia First leader suggested.
Kirsis argued that such an arrangement would turn many quiet neighborhoods in Riga adjacent to the city center into improvised parking lots. Motorists would drive to an area where parking is still free of charge, leave their vehicles there and take free public transport to the city center.
Meanwhile, free public transport would cause losses to Riga Satiksme municipal transport company and all residents of Riga. Public transport would become more crowded and unappealing, which would encourage people would switch to private cars, which would again fill the streets in downtown Riga, the mayor said.
The municipal transport company would also lose the state subsidy, which currently is more than EUR 10 million, said Kirsis.
The mayor therefore called the proposal populism.
At the moment, the municipality is focusing more on the creation of parking lots in the city and the development of mobility points, as well as on the introduction of the single ticket, on which the government decided on Tuesday.
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