Starting from October 1, bus tariffs for regional local routes will be equalized on the routes served by 12 more carriers in the planning region of Riga, Kurzeme, Zemgale and Latgale.
Currently, the new tariffs are already valid in the territories served by nine carriers throughout Latvia. Taking into account that before the start of tariff equalization, there were 24 different tariffs on regional routes, as a result of their equalization, the fare for traveling distances of different lengths will remain the same, decrease or slightly increase elsewhere.
From October 1, the tariffs will be uniform in almost all of Pierīga, the former Limbažu district, Talsi, Aizkraukle, Bauskas districts, the former Dobeles and Jēkabpils districts, Viesites district, the former Daugavpils district and Krāslava district, where public transport services are respectively provided by AS “Rīgas Taksometru parks” , SIA «Ekspress Ādaži», «Galss Buss», JSC «CATA», «Talsu autotransports», SIA «Aizkraukles autotransporta umensas», «Aiva auto», «Dobeles busu park», «Spuţēni-Daugavieši», «Viesītes transports» and “Daugavpils bus park”.
The minimum fare will increase by 0.10 euros in the transportation of SIA “SpuņĮeni-Daugavieši”, but it will not change in the rest of the territory of the former Jēkabpils district. When measuring distances from seven to 33 kilometers, the ticket price will increase slightly. On the other hand, the minimum fare in Viesite county will not change, but the ticket price will increase when driving distances longer than seven kilometers.
By equating public transport tariffs, citizens will pay for public transport according to the same principles, regardless of where they are. In the future, residents will also have the opportunity to purchase a subscription ticket, which will allow regular passengers to pay less for a trip in public transport, and it is also planned to introduce a single ticket for both train and bus travel.
In the process of tariff equalization, four different minimum fares have been created, the size of which depends on the level of the development center. The fee for the first kilometers of the trip will be different in Riga, in other cities of importance in the republic, in centers of regional importance and in the rest of the country. Also, it is planned to introduce the same fee for each kilometer of the journey – for the journey from 7 to 33 kilometers, the fee will be the same, but starting with the 33rd kilometer, a price reduction is planned.
