The rise in fuel prices, which could not be contained by reducing the excise tax, forces the search for new solutions to reduce the cost of living.
The Ministry of Transport has proposed to halve the price of monthly train tickets for three months — will this encourage people to use their personal cars less often, reports TV3 News.
The crowded parking lot at the railway station in Salaspils indicates that residents are already actively using the train to travel to Riga or Ogre. Surveyed residents say that if the train becomes even more affordable, they would switch from personal transport to the yellow "ViVi" trains more often.
"Well, that would be great. I don’t know, of course, if I would leave my car, since there are places that you can’t reach by train, but it would be excellent. Right now, fuel prices are high. My car, however, runs on gas — that’s cheaper, but that’s my case. People could really switch," says Martin.
"Probably, people would be happier if they paid half as much. But I don’t use the train myself. Right now, the situation with kids is just like this — I usually live in Marupe and take public transport to the center, and I only use my personal car on weekends. Today, I took the kids on "ViVi" for the first time. (TV3: And how was it?) Very good," says Zanda.
Other respondents also believe that even with very cheap tickets, they won’t be able to completely change their habits, as the train, while convenient, does not take them everywhere they need to go.
"You know, sometimes you need to get somewhere quickly by car. You can’t get directly where you need to go by train. It has a schedule, and you can’t always adjust to it. Time is more expensive than fuel costs," reflects Denis.
Nevertheless, the proposal from the Ministry of Transport looks attractive enough for many residents to consider it. The cost of monthly tickets depends on the tariff zones.
If they are reduced by 50%, then, for example, on the Riga — Babite route, a 30-day ticket would cost 15 euros, Riga — Ogre or Carnikava — 23 euros, Riga — Jelgava or Riga — Sigulda — 28 euros, and daily trips to Tukums would cost 33 euros.
"This is a tool through which the government of Latvia can reach a large number of people and help them. People could leave their cars at home and would be motivated to travel by train. We expect that in this way, the number of trips on 30-day subscriptions could increase by 100,000–200,000," noted Minister of Transport Aitis Shvinka.
Such a solution is not unique — a similar step was taken by Lithuania. There, a 50% discount applies to all individual tickets, allowing savings for those who use transport infrequently.
In Latvia, this option is not currently being considered. Moreover, even a reduction in the price of monthly tickets will only be relevant for part of the population, as many do not live near the railway.
"Of course, we are also evaluating regional bus transport. But if you compare — we transport 21 million passengers by train, while regional buses carry fewer. It’s more complicated with buses: there is no developed subscription system like there is with trains. There are many carriers, each with their own system, and much more work needs to be done there," acknowledged Shvinka.
The Ministry of Transport plans to present this proposal for consideration at the coalition meeting next week and hopes that the discounts can come into effect no later than May 1. If the initiative is supported, the passenger carrier "ViVi" will face a revenue shortfall of about 1.6 million euros. However, the minister is confident that this can be compensated by additional VAT revenues resulting from high fuel prices.
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