To encourage more people to choose public transport instead of private transport, both Road Transport Administration and Ministry of Transport have developed a concept for the future of public transport for the period of 2021-2030, which aims to facilitate passenger transfer from private transport to competitive, convenient, safe and integrated public transport.
The concept for the future of public transport 2021-2030 foresees:
- railway as the backbone of the public transport system,
- buses as addition to railway transportation,
- introduction of commercial or state-subsidized routes initially in eight routes connected with Riga,
- provision of free public transport initially on 20 routes,
- the amount of state-guaranteed services or the network of subsidized bus routes.
In recent years, number of road passengers in Latvia has increased slightly. In 2019, almost 30 thousand passengers were transported by road vehicles registered in Latvia.
By the end of 2019, 435 carriers were licensed for international and domestic passenger transportation as well as nine domestic passenger carriers.