In Kurzeme, residents are worried about the recent changes in several bus routes

Bus driver Arnis Francis pointed out that the number of passengers on the Kuldīga-Basi-Vārpa route is not expected. Sometimes at the beginning Kuldīga bus station gets one passenger, but to the final stop in Vārpa Gudenieki parish another 45 kilometers and 17 stops.

no, on average to 10, no more, a colleague said that a lot, about 20, ”said the driver.

This is one of the routes that has changed since August 1. On this date, a new agreement with carriers entered into force in five parts of the route network – “Pierīga”, “Bauska”, “Liepāja”, “Kuldīga, Saldus” and “Daugavpils, Krāslava” for 10 years.

On the Kuldīga-Basi-Vārpa route, two flights were removed on working days – in the morning it is no longer possible to get from Kuldīga to Vārpa, but in the late afternoon from Vārpa to the county center. Residents do not understand if the bus has to reach the final stop in the same way, why passengers should not be picked up when going on or off.

“[Reiss] is closed and onwards it is the responsibility of the carrier by which he sends those buses to get the bus to the required destination, ”explained Lilita Pelčere, a spokeswoman for the Road Transport Directorate (ATD).

But most people now feel that the bus no longer runs at all on Saturdays.

Vineta Kaltiņa said: “Shopping on Saturday is the most important thing, if there is an event in the city, a market, then you want to go, because nothing is happening on the spot.”

A similar opinion was expressed by another Basque resident Anita Kokina: “Well, it can’t be – no products can be sold. I grew a rhubarb, left over, flowers or something already. In general, it was a surprise to me that the bus did not run on Saturdays. ”

ATD explained that the flights were canceled due to the small number of passengers. It was one or no passengers on the closed weekday flights, also few on Saturdays.

It should be noted that the number of passengers in the Directorate can only be determined by the number of tickets purchased. It is the failure to request this document for the paid trip on several routes in Kurzeme that has led to a review of the changes from August 1, as it turns out that people have used public transport.

Other recommendations from passengers have also been considered. Vaira Brūdere, the head of the Public Transport Department of the Kurzeme Planning Region, said:

Residents of Gudenieki Parish and the Parish Administration have also applied to ATD for resumption of flights, especially on Saturdays.

“We are currently looking for a way to improve the situation, we have contacted the planning region, we think that this solution will be found in the near future, then we will inform about it accordingly. population, ”said ATC spokeswoman Pelcher.

In the Kurzeme planning region, it was also explained that in the future, due to the low population density and the long distance to the county center, the possibility of subsidizing and transporting the population free of charge could be considered. As of October 1, there are 60 flights on 15 routes in Latvia.