On social media, people are starting to openly express their opinions one after another: bus drivers drive as if in races, ignore stops, humiliate passengers, and often even kick people out in the middle of the road, writes LA.LV.
This is how Roland describes his experience on Facebook: "Another masterpiece from Liepājas Autobusu Parks. On the evening of October 11, 2025, after 9:30 PM, the driver was speeding. At one stop, he simply opened the doors and stood for two minutes, then 'took off' again. There were teenagers sitting in the front seat discussing among themselves that buses usually don't go at 70 km/h in the city. Suddenly — a sharp brake, standing passengers nearly fall, seated ones struggle to hold on. The driver opens the front door of the bus and just kicks the teenagers out, right between stops. This is the kind of inadequate staff working in public transport."
Silvia compares it to Germany: "Cultural shock after returning from abroad (from a well-deserved vacation). In Germany, when coming back from work, it often happened that there were only 1–3 passengers on the bus. At the stop, I get on, the driver looks in the mirror, makes sure I have taken my seat, and only then starts moving. The priority is the safety of passengers. But here, the priorities are different — the schedule, lack of staff, and so on."
Elita also shares a shocking case: "For example, yesterday, another driver from the CATA company around 5:30 PM simply refused to stop at a stop in the Riga district of Jugla to let a passenger off, stating that the bus was full, and someone else might try to get on the freed-up seat. He only stopped at Depo, where it is almost impossible to get to the next public transport. It was a young girl with tears in her eyes. What culture can we talk about? A complaint has, of course, been filed, indicating the bus number and the driver's name, but what’s the point — there aren’t enough drivers, so they do what they want."
Zane admits that she tries to avoid bus trips: "I agree, some drivers drive terribly, especially on route 6 — they speed and brake sharply. I have made remarks, but they absolutely don’t care. Some don’t even understand Latvian, or maybe they don’t want to understand. If you have to use public transport, it’s better to take a tram — buses are very unpleasant: because of the drivers, and sometimes because of the dirt. Moreover, buses smoke like chimneys; they have outlived their usefulness, and from an environmental point of view, there’s nothing good there either."
Another user says that she tries to avoid using the services of Liepājas Autobusu Parks: "I try to avoid buses in Liepāja as much as possible. I have encountered such behavior and others as well. Unfortunately, there is not enough determination to change anything — because changing this absurdity is beyond our power."
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