Latvia’s Ministry of Transport (MoT) has launched enhanced oversight of the Road Transport Directorate (ATD), Transport Minister Atis Švinka (Progressives) announced on X (formerly Twitter).
“Seeing problems in the implementation of public transport policy, we have changed the public transport governance structure within the Ministry of Transport and have begun strengthened oversight of ATD’s operations,” the minister wrote.
Švinka noted that specific accountability must follow for shortcomings identified in ATD’s work. In his view, ATD is currently unable to fully cope either with its core tasks or with communication. As a result, he has instructed the directorate to significantly change its attitude toward the sector and toward residents in the shortest possible time.
“Clear and understandable information must be provided to the public and industry participants about the situation in passenger transport, solutions to long-standing issues must be outlined, and the next steps must be clearly communicated,” the minister stressed.
At the same time, Švinka said that
a strategy for commercial routes within the regional public transport network is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks.
The purpose of this strategy is to define the principles and criteria on which the future development of commercial routes should be based.
“Based on the conclusions of the strategy, ATD will also have to define the necessary amendments to regulations. Already within the next month, I will invite industry representatives to familiarize themselves with the proposed solutions and to hear the sector’s views,” Švinka said.
The minister emphasized that he stands for openness, transparent processes, and data accessibility, as the public must be able to review data on passenger transport insofar as this does not violate competition law. “The public has the right to know how public funds are used. Only through such cooperation with the industry is it possible to develop public transport and genuinely improve mobility for Latvia’s residents,” Švinka stated.
Responding to passenger carriers’ request to remove him from office, Švinka said that, as minister, he maintains active communication with the Latvian Passenger Transport Association (LPPA). At the same time, he added that the most recent meeting on January 7 ended with carriers unwilling to engage in discussion or seek solutions for the sustainability of regional public transport.
Despite this,
Švinka has invited LPPA to a repeat meeting on Tuesday, the 27th of January, to work toward a solution.
Švinka also noted that, with coalition support, the ministry has succeeded in securing additional funding to cover losses in public transport services in 2025, and that a request for additional funding for 2026 is currently being advanced to ensure regional transport services can be maintained at the current level throughout the year.
In addition, Švinka issued a resolution this week to establish a working group to assess solutions for improving the efficiency of public transport. The group’s task is to model and test various service organization, route planning, accessibility, and cost-efficiency improvement options, based on data and analysis. The working group includes representatives from the Ministry of Transport, ATD, municipalities, and planning regions.
As previously reported by LETA, passenger carriers have appealed to Prime Minister Evika Siliņa (New Unity), requesting Švinka’s dismissal, arguing that over the past year the Ministry of Transport and ATD have failed to constructively address escalating problems in regional passenger transport networks.
“We are categorically opposed to what is currently happening in the passenger transport sector
and consider it our duty to inform the Prime Minister that such policies by the responsible ministry — with utopian solutions and experiments — will have catastrophic consequences for the industry, and most importantly, residents in the regions will suffer from the planned reform, as they will effectively have to figure out themselves how to get to work, to a doctor, or even to a shop,” said LPPA President Ivo Ošenieks.
Meanwhile, commercial passenger transport company Lux Express Latvia has stressed that ATD is not complying with a ministry order requiring the disclosure of data on subsidized passenger transport services.
The company said that in July 2025, Lux Express Latvia submitted a request to ATD for data on subsidized passenger transport, as the company is actively developing scenarios for potential commercial transport market expansion in Latvia. However, according to the company, ATD rejected the request on several grounds that the Ministry of Transport later deemed unlawful and instructed ATD to reconsider.
LETA has also reported that after the meeting, the Latvian Passenger Transport Association announced that regional public transport carriers are once again considering organizing a protest action over the revision of long-term contract prices.
Previously representatives of public transport passenger carriers held a protest outside the Cabinet of Ministers, urging the government to compensate for cost increases caused by unpredictable emergency circumstances. On the 16th of September, carriers organized the protest action “One Hour Without Public Transport” to draw attention to insufficient funding in the public transport sector.
Carriers have demanded compensation for 10% of losses incurred due to long-term contracts affected by extraordinary circumstances between the 1st of July, 2022, and the 31st of August, 2025.
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