However, since salaries in Norway are much higher than in Latvia, this means that we give proportionally more of our income to public transport than Norwegians.
In terms of cost effectiveness, the public transport system in Luxembourg is rated the highest in Europe, according to this year’s report of the international environmental protection organization “Greenpeace”.
As part of the research, the organization has analyzed the price offer of public transport in 30 countries and their capitals. The study includes 27 countries of the European Union, as well as Great Britain, Switzerland and Norway. The report says that Luxembourg ranks first in terms of supply, scoring 100 out of a possible 100, while Bulgaria ranks last with zero points. When looking at the capitals, the first place was divided immediately between three cities – the city of Luxembourg, Valletta in Malta and Tallinn in Estonia, while, surprisingly, the last place went to the capital of Ireland, Dublin, writes the website “Themayor.eu”.
Latvia at the bottom, Riga in the middle
In the mentioned “Greenpeace” assessment of the cost-effectiveness of transport tickets, Latvia ranks 26th in the country ranking, sharing it with Norway. The 25th place in the rating is given to Romania, while in the next step below Latvia and Norway are Greece and Croatia, reports the “Greenpeace” website. Meanwhile, in the list of capital cities, Riga occupies the 17th place, one place behind Budapest, but one place ahead of the capital of our southern neighbor, Vilnius. No matter what one might say about Riga transport, it is about in the middle in the ticket price rating of the environmental organization. Given the general price levels, it’s no wonder it beats European capitals such as Bern, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, Paris and London in terms of fares. Below Riga in terms of ranking is the capital of Germany, Berlin, which is usually not considered an overpriced metropolis.
Cheaper and even free
Meanwhile, Germany is gaining attention in the country rankings. In the environmental organization’s study, relatively extensive attention is paid to the costs of public transport. It points to the example of Germany, which introduced a single ticket for the entire German public transport system. Passengers are offered a single discounted monthly ticket covering all public bus and rail transport in Germany, including domestic and intercity journeys. Such a ticket costs 49 euros and is considered profitable from the point of view of “Greenpeace”. Such a system has been in effect in Germany since May 1 of this year. True, Germany is not the only one to introduce such a system. Hungary introduced a similar policy on the same day (May 1), while Austria tried the offer already in 2021. Malta and Luxembourg, meanwhile, have chosen to make their country’s public transport completely free, waiving tickets altogether. When creating the ratings of countries and capitals, several criteria were put forward, including – the existence of a single ticket for all public transport, discounts for socially disadvantaged persons (reduction by at least 25%), value added tax (VAT) rate for public transport and prices.
I want a single European ticket
With the rating, Greenpeace wants to advance the concept of creating a so-called European ticket, modeled after the German version, but valid for the entire bloc. To do this, the organization is proposing that the EU remove tax incentives for international flights that use polluting hydrocarbon fuels, instead making it more affordable to use public transport.
In the view of the organization, transport tickets are too expensive in many countries, and six countries – Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Estonia and Croatia – apply the standard VAT rate to public transport tickets. Thus, using public transport becomes more expensive. Thus, “Greenpeace” calls on national and local governments to introduce acceptable “climate tickets” in all public transport and the European Commission to promote this in order to introduce a single climate ticket across Europe in the future. German Transport Minister Volker Wissing has already expressed his support for a pan-European public transport ticket, similar to Germany’s new unified public transport ticket. Meanwhile, Greenpeace points out that apart from Luxembourg and Malta, which made domestic public transport free, only Austria, Germany and Hungary have introduced relatively affordable nationwide tickets costing less than three euros a day. On the other hand, about two-thirds of the analyzed countries do not have national long-term travel maps at all.
2023-10-15 02:15:34
#Public #transport #Latvia #advantageous #Norway
