Passenger transport protest cancels over 3,000 bus trips in Latvia

More than 3,000 bus trips were cancelled across Latvia on Wednesday because of a protest by passenger transport operators, disrupting travel to work and school, LSM reported. Some students missed the school day, while others studied remotely.

The operators say the current funding model no longer covers their actual costs and are protesting to draw the government’s attention to the problem.

The largest disruption was reported in the Liepāja region, where nearly 900 trips were cancelled. Liepāja Bus Park, the operator serving routes around Liepāja, Pierīga, Ogre and Aizkraukle, received a steady stream of calls from people checking whether their buses had been cancelled.

Gita, who was waiting for her usual bus to work at a stop in Nīca shortly after 7 a.m., said she did not know the bus would not arrive. Her employer eventually came to pick her up.

“I am very dissatisfied with this situation because many people have to get to work. This protest is causing problems for me: I am late for work, and that affects other matters as well. Older people need to get to doctors,” Gita said.

Liepāja Bus Park branch manager Mārtiņš Šmits said the roads between Kuldīga and Liepāja had more cars than usual for a working day. The bus stops were empty, while some people were seen walking from Grobiņa to Liepāja.

The protest also caused losses for Riga Bus Station.