Regional carriers plan nationwide public transport protest

The Latvian Passenger Carriers Association (LPPA), working with passenger transport operators, will hold a protest on September 16 during which regional carriers will suspend state-commissioned public transport services for one day, LSM reports.

The action will involve carriers that have signed 10-year long-term contracts. LPPA says the Transport Ministry has failed to find a solution for adjusting those contracts to changing economic conditions despite more than a year of talks, repeated calculations and proposals, and continued cost increases.

“We do not want to protest; we want to find a solution,” LPPA President Ivo Ošenieks said. He said the discussions had not produced a result that would allow carriers to operate in line with the actual cost of providing the service.

LPPA is calling for an immediate solution to the adjustment of regional bus operators’ long-term contracts, additional funding to cover significant cost increases, and compensation for the substantial rise in fuel prices caused by the consequences of the conflict in the Middle East.

Carriers said the current long-term contracts were drafted and prices set under different economic conditions. Since bids were submitted, fuel prices have risen by more than 56%, while overall inflation has reached 38.1%. As a result, the service price set in the contracts no longer reflects the actual costs of providing public transport, they said.

“Our goal is not to inconvenience passengers. On the contrary, we want regional public transport to remain stable, regular and accessible to residents,” Ošenieks said.