The Road Transport Administration (RTA) plans to install devices for registering passenger flow in each regional bus. A tender for the supply of devices worth over €3 million was announced in January of this year, and so far, only one applicant has submitted a bid.
The Ministry of Transport previously stated that such devices are necessary to understand how much funding to allocate to carriers each year. However, passenger carriers are puzzled and have questions about the ministry's plans.
As noted by the Road Transport Administration (RTA), there is currently no accurate and automated system for collecting data on passenger flow in regional buses. The data obtained from the devices is planned to be compared with the carriers' revenues, which will allow for tracking the transparency of ticket issuance. The devices are expected to be installed in approximately 1,100 buses, and the state will spend €3.1 million on this, which is about €3,000 per bus.
"We are already lacking funds for the actual provision of services, to cover losses, so this competition is not a priority in our opinion. Carriers are not receiving full advance payments for the execution of existing contracts. Considering that currently all tickets for regional bus routes are sold with specific indications of boarding and alighting places, we are somewhat skeptical about the claim that the RTA lacks tools for effective route network planning," said Ivo Ošenieks, president of the Latvian Association of Passenger Carriers.
