The era of free bus travel in Taurage is coming to an end – from this summer, from September at the latest, the free opportunity to ride local buses will no longer exist. “Tauragė Kurjeris” announces about it.
The Tauragė District Municipal Council made a decision on free public transport in 2020. in the summer, and last year invited residents to ride 6 more bus routes throughout the county for free.
Residents and guests of Tauragė, Jurbarka, Šilalė district and Pagėgiai municipality could travel for free. After the elections, the “fairy tale” is over: the new municipal councils of all four counties will already approve travel rates.
According to the local media, the organizer of the Electronic Ticket project – the public institution “Green Region” established by the four municipalities of Tauragė County admits that forever 100%. it is too much of a luxury for municipalities to finance bus trips.
There were also offers in Jonava
In the municipal council of the Jonava district, some politicians have also raised the idea of free public transport, but the council did not support such a proposal.
Otaras Urbanas, a member of the Lithuanian Passenger Transport Association and head of the company “Jonavos Buses”, says that the discussions between carriers regarding free public transport have been going on for a long time, but all signs indicated that such a burden would be too great for municipal budgets.
“Especially when thinking about the renewal of transport fleets, the use of ecological fuel, it was clear that the municipalities that offered free public transport would either have to reduce the network of routes or take the missing funds from other areas. Therefore, the free trips could not last long,” says the manager of the Jonava company.
O. Urbanas points to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, as a possibly successful example of free public transport. But there, the leader emphasizes, other problems are solved in this way: declaration of residence and traffic congestion.
Therefore, only local residents travel for free in Tallinn, and their bus trips are covered by the parking fee in the city, which amounts to eight euros.
