Riga City Council’s Committee for Communication and Transport Affairs supports zero tickets for disabled persons of group 3 and students of professional education institution : Current information : Rīgas satiksme

Back to list Print 12. Feb. 2013

Riga City Council’s Committee for Communication and Transport Affairs supports zero tickets for disabled persons of group 3 and students of professional education institution

Today Riga City Council’s Committee for Communication and Transport Affairs voted for amendments to regulatory enactments of the local government, which provide the introduction of free travel rights for all disabled persons of group 3 and students of vocational education institutions. As reported earlier, last week Riga City Mayor Nils Ušakovs ordered municipal institutions to make necessary calculations so that necessary amendments could be introduced as soon as possible.

It is scheduled that amendments to the Riga City Council’s binding regulations on fare reductions in municipal public transport will take effect late in March and still need to be approved by Riga City Council.

"The local government fulfils its earlier promises not to forget about disabled persons of group 3 and students of vocational education institutions, taking into account the current financial situation of Riga City Council and thus eliminating differences in these groups of residents. It should be reminded that the central government has not allocated even a santims to support disabled persons of group 3 and students of vocational education institutions," said the chairman of the committee, Vadims Baraņņiks.

According to calculations of "Rīgas satiksme", Riga public transport carrying disabled persons of group 3 and students of vocational education institutions free of charge will cost the local government additional 4.2 M lats a year.

At present, 100% reduction of fare is granted to disabled persons of group 3 with impaired vision and hearing, but students of vocational education institutions enjoy 60% discount when buying one-month tickets and 50% discount when buying tickets for a certain number of trips. As for pupils of Riga comprehensive schools, they already use public transport free of charge.