Riga goes ahead with reform of public transport fares

RIGA - The Transport Committee of Riga City Council on Monday approved a reform of the capital city's public transport fares, significantly raising the price of a single trip ticket but cutting the price of one-month tickets. 

The price of a single trip ticket will go up by nearly 74 percent - from EUR 1.15 to EUR 2.

The number of ticket types will be substantially reduced, scrapping one-month single-route tickets and introducing time tickets. 

Apart from the EUR 2 single trip ticket (which will only be available on bus No 22, running from Riga Airport), the local government is planning to introduce several time-tickets - a 90-minute ticket which will cost EUR 1.5 and a 24-hour ticket which will be sold for EUR 5.

Also, a three-day ticket will be sold for EUR 8, a five-day ticket for EUR 10 and a one-month ticket for EUR 30. The price of the one-month ticket is being cut by 40 percent from EUR 50. 

Riga will thus align its public transport fare policy with the other two Baltic capitals.

The existing fare discounts will remain in force. For instance, students, teachers and medical staff will be able to buy one-month tickets on a 50 percent discount.

The fare reform will not affect passengers eligible for a 100 percent fare discount like seniors, schoolchildren and people with disabilities. Working pensioners will also be able to use the city's public transport for free.

Dzineta Innusa, CEO of Rigas Satiksme municipal transport company, told members of the city council that the fare reform will bring the average ticket price closer to the cost price of a trip on Riga's public transport, which is EUR 2.04.

Rigas Satiksme plans to formally introduce the new fare system on December 31, 2022. Since on the New Year's Eve public transport in Riga is free of charge, Rigas Satiksme will have three nights to prepare for the launch of the new system on January 2.

Rigas Satiksme is also planning a 60-day transition period during which the tickets bought before December 31 will remain valid.

Riga vice mayor Vilnis Kirsis (New Unity) indicated that the new fare system would be favorable to passengers that use public transport frequently.

The new fare system has yet to be approved by Riga City Council.

Fully owned by Riga City Council, Rigas Satiksme provides bus, tram and trolleybus services to passengers in Riga. Rigas Satiksme closed 2021 with EUR 161.117 million in audited turnover, down 7.1 percent from a year before, while the company's profit grew 3.1 times to EUR 3.049 million.