This October Belarus hosted several events, which are significant for road transport industry. From September 31 until October 2, A. Krūze, the Board member in charge of development, participated in the session of the Belorussian Business Cooperation Board organized within the framework of the 14^th session of the Latvian-Belorussian Intergovernmental Commission, as well as, being a member of the Latvian official delegation, in the 14^th session of the Latvian-Belorussian Intergovernmental Commission. He also participated in the international transport and logistics forum organized during the Belorussian Transport Week and attended international exhibition “Transport and Logistics”. On October 7-11, the assistant technical support director in charge of technical support matters, R. Mazjānis, participated in the 16^th Congress of European Automotive Engineers, which discussed issues of using electric transport in passenger transportation, as well as solved different issues of developing future projects. R. Mazjānis is also a Board member in the European Automotive Engineers Cooperation (EAEC).

At the meeting of October 3, the Board of the RP SIA “Rīgas satiksme” started a discussion on the scheme of the company’s organizational structure in the transition period, which concluded at the meeting of October 7 by the approval of the above scheme. The goal of these organizational is to make the basic service of the company, which is transportation of passengers, more efficient. To achieve this goal, the operations sector will be united with the management of routes and transportation network. As a result, the public transport fleet and the network of routes will be managed as one single structure. These changes are also expected to have a positive effect on the workload of public transport drivers and the fleet of public transport vehicles.

So far, three of seven directors of the new structure – administrative resource management, technical support and finance – have been approved to hold these positions on a permanent basis. In other sectors, acting directors have been appointed – they are all long-serving employees RP SIA “Rīgas satiksme” who fulfilled similar official duties. The task of sector directors and acting directors is to develop, in cooperation with the Personnel Management Section, new schemes and regulations of structural units, which must be summited to the Board for approval until December 1. These changes mainly redistribute functions among sectors to increase their capacity, while affecting employees as little as possible and not disturbing their everyday work.

At the meeting of October 3, the Board of RP SIA “Rīgas satiksme” listneed to a report by the acting service provision director, E. Zivtiņš, about measurers aimed to ensure stability in the number of pubic transport runs. RP SIA “Rīgas satiksme” as a passenger carrier has long dealt with the deficit of “D” category drivers, caused by several factors. Although RP SIA “Rīgas satiksme” offers drivers of this category higher salaries than the average in this field, drivers with such qualification can easily find job which is paid better, for example, that of haulier, and a better work schedule. To solve these issues, RP SIA “Rīgas satiksme” plans to increase salaries for all drivers, taking account of market trends. RP SIA “Rīgas satiksme” also allows that in the future it could renounce from the clear division of routes by means of transportation (trolleybus or bus) or open new routes where both types of vehicles will be used. This idea is based on the fact that nowadays new technologies enter the transportation field, which brings the both means of transportation closer to each other and increase opportunities for their use. The Board also supported a proposal of the acting operations director, A. Vilnis, to buy waistcoats for drivers of the vehicles involved in the pilot project, in which passengers are allowed in through front doors only. RP SIA “Rīgas satiksme” runs vehicles with open driver cabins, and such a solution will help reduce health risks for drivers as winter season begins.

Continuing to implement the recommendations of SIA “Ernest&Young Baltic”, the Board accepted amendments to the company’s regulations on control of contract management and implementation. The amendments are due to the establishment of the qualified suppliers system (procurements will be performed using EIS environment) and specify how the system of control for previously signed contracts will be improved. At the meeting of October 3, the Board also approved amendments to the company’s Corporate Governance Code, and submitted its new version to the company’s Council for approval. Continuing to implement the recommendations, at the meeting of October 10 the Board of RP SIA “Rīgas satiksme” listened to the report on the Procurement contract risk management plan and the Contract management plan prepared by the Security and risk management sector. According to the plan, the implementation of 25 contracts signed previously will be subject to additional control. At this meeting, the Board also listened to a report on the conclusion of evaluation of corruption risks in the company. The Board decided to approve the evaluation and to send it to the Bureaucracy Combating Centre of Riga City Council for information, as well as assigned the Risk Management Unit with updating the company’s Plan of Anti-Corruption Measures for years 2018-2021 by mid-December. According to this plan, the evaluation of risks will be used in further training of staff to minimize risks.  

On October 15 and 16, employees of RP SIA “Rīgas satiksme” met with the company’s employees. Traditionally, such meetings are held twice a year, yet this year this was the first such meeting. The company’s Council introduced itself, and RP SIA “Rīgas satiksme” Board Chairman Dr.iur. E. Saulītis informed about structural changes in the company and their goal. The Council, the Board and directors also answered questions.

At the meeting of October 17, the Board of RP SIA “Rīgas satiksme” listened to the report by the acting service provision director, E. Zivtiņš, on the dual use of bus route No. 40. This will be the first public transport route where two means of public transportation, buses and trolleybuses, will be used on a single route. It is planned that some 54,000 euros will be invested in infrastructure development to reduce costs and increase the possibility of using trolleybuses on this route. In the next planning period, RP SIA “Rīgas satiksme” plans to build a new terminal infrastructure (terminal with a long-term parking lot) in Līvciema Street, Ziepniekkalns, where the company owns several land plots. The time limits for the implementation of the project will depend on the city’s capacity to reconstruct Līvciema Street, because a part of it is too narrow for normal public transport traffic. The Board also listened to the report by the acting development and commercial activity director, V. Zaķis, on changes in the company’s Communication policy. 

On October 17 and 23, a meeting of SIA “Rīgas karte” shareholders took place. This is a joint venture owned by RP SIA “Rīgas satiksme” and “Conduent Business Solutions France SAS”, which provides the system of tickets in Riga public transport and management of some municipal services. Seeking to ensure a normal operation of the company and considering good governance requirements, the shareholders decided to fully replace the company’s board. They also decided that information about questions considered at the shareholders meeting and its progress is confidential. The shareholders meeting also decided to pay out dividends, which had been earlier left at the company’s disposal to provide necessary funding for participation in an EU project. Unfortunately, the implementation of the project did not start for reasons beyond control of SIA “Rīgas karte”.

On October 21-23, two members of RP SIA “Rīgas satiksme” – A. Krūze, who is responsible for development, and E. Jakrins, who is responsible for technical field, participated in international exhibition “Busworld Europe”, where they met with the biggest European manufacturers of public transport. Participation in such exhibition on the company’s top management level is important, as it enables  participants to become familiar with the latest trends in the industry, as well as to meet representatives of companies working in this field directly.

At the meeting of October 24, the Board of RP SIA “Rīgas satiksme” listened to a report by SIA “Konsorts” about the financial feasibility study of the Riga Public Transport Development Programme in 2019-2023. No further details will be provided, as the report contains commercial information of RP SIA “Rīgas satiksme”, which is deemed confidential. At the same time, the study confirmed that in the future the public transportation service provider will be under pressure of various costs, which will grow for objective reasons, for example, depreciation of vehicles and manpower costs. The Board also listened to and took note of the report prepared by the Employee and Trade Union Cooperation Council (Darbinieku un arodbiedrību sadarbības padome) on the use of received funds in the 3^rd quarter of 2019. It should be noted that the task of the Council is to coordinate social support to employees of RP SIA “Rīgas satiksme”, as well as to organize different sports, recreation and culture activities. Some 1600 employees of the company used the services of the organization in the 3^rd quarter of 2019.

You can find more information about services provided by „Rīgas satiksme”, public transport schedules, types of tickets and other news on website www.rigassatiksme.lv or in social networks – „twitter” and „facebook”.