An alternative to the “Riga Map” e-ticket system must be invented within three months / Article / LSM.lv

Within three months, it is necessary to figure out how to abandon the maintenance of the more expensive e-ticket system, the Deputy Mayor of Riga Vilnis Ķirsis (“Jaunā Vienotība”) told the Latvian Television program “Today’s Issue”.

He said he should “where possible go away from the expensive system”. This could save you money. The only problem is that there is no alternative to the existing system. The working group that had to come up with this failed to come up with a new option. Therefore, now the council has three months – until the agreement of “Rīgas satiksme” with SIA “Rīgas karte” expires. Then the solution must be.

Cherry said that the vision of “Rīgas satiksme” is that it is necessary to buy out the contract, which means that it would stick to the old system. The deputy mayor of the new council wants to change the system. He recalled that, according to an audit by Ernst & Young, the e-ticket system cost 27 million euros a year. And it would be possible to maintain the system with 3 million euros, saving a lot of money.

The Mayor of Riga Mārtiņš Staķis (“Attīstība / Par”) emphasized in the program “1pret1” that the new city management wants much faster progress on the above-mentioned issue.

“The goal is to get rid of intermediaries that charge money,” Stack said.

He pointed out that the savings will be from January 1, when the agreement with the “Riga Card” expires. However, Stak pointed out that there are still agreements related to the e-ticket maintenance system that are still in force. You will have to consider whether it is worth breaking them.

Cherry also pointed out in the program “Today’s Question” that this year the income of “Rīgas satiksme” has decreased due to Covid-19, because people work from home.

He also noted that the possibility of temporarily deducting discounts for pensioners and students has not been discussed yet. Previously, this was done to reduce the number of people in public transport in Riga. Cherry said she would rely on wearing masks and this would be closely monitored.

CONTEXT:

“New Unity” even before the election pointed outthat the existing e-voucher system should be replaced could save more than € 20 million. The scale of expenditures, which has been revealed in the audits of other Riga companies, even with very conservative forecasts, allows to plan a reduction of expenditures by at least another 10 million euros.

Due to the increase in the number of Covid-19 patients, face masks in public transport throughout Latvia from Wednesday, October 7, will be mandatory. In public transport may not be admitted passengers without masks, while passengers who do not wear masks, will be able to disembark outside, if necessary, also involving the police.

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