Next year, it is planned to install another 17 speed cameras in Latvia, as reported by Latvian Ministry of Transport.
There are currently 16 average speed monitoring devices active in Latvia.
At the same time, the ministry plans to implement a number of other solutions to help reduce the number of deaths from road accidents and improve overall safety. This includes, among other things, creation of bicycle infrastructure.
The ministry also plans to continue work to maintain and develop economically effective air transport system, as well as various measures to improve security at airports.
In order to continue the progress towards a unified management of state information and communication technology resources, the development and expansion of shared cloud computing infrastructure will be implemented with the support of the European Union (EU) Recovery Fund. Similarly, with EU funding, it is planned to implement a “last mile” infrastructure project that supports sustainable connectivity of the next generation of fixed wireless networks.
The Ministry of Transport will continue to implement the reform of the management and financing of the traffic sector next year, the implementation of which, taking into account its wide scope, is planned for several years. In the management of the Ministry of Transport, there are many state-owned capital companies and the issues to be addressed include their management, participation in international capital markets, labour law and the development of employees’ skills, as well as the adaptation of transport infrastructure to strengthen the region’s defence capabilities, the ministry said.
The budget of the Ministry of Transport will be EUR 752.7 million next year. This is approximately EUR 36 million less than this year.
The Ministry of Transport budget next year includes EUR 354.7 million for human security and accessibility measures. Including EUR 69 million for the maintenance of 20 000 kilometres of public roads, EUR 58.5 million for targeted grants to municipalities for the maintenance and construction of roads, EUR 46 million for the construction of the country’s main roads, EUR 39 million for the construction of regional roads, and EUR 24 million for the construction and repair of the country’s local roads, as well as other measures to improve traffic safety.
In the field of export and international competitiveness, EUR 175.3 million are planned in the Ministry of Transport budget for the Rail Baltica project, while EUR 0.7 million are planned for the aviation safety function in civil aviation airfields.
In the Rail Baltica project next year, the most important measures will be the construction of the main track about 13 kilometres long in the priority section towards the Lithuanian border, construction works on the Riga Central Railway Hub section, the construction of the Rail Baltica railway overpass at Riga Airport, as well as the design of the Rail Baltica main track in the central and northern sections of Latvia.
In turn, EUR 162 million are planned for the next year in the field of public transport, including EUR 93.8 million for grants for regional public transport, EUR 64.2 million for railway public infrastructure, EUR 2.7 million for the development of a technical project for the maintenance and repair centre of rolling stock, and EUR 1.3 million for the organsation of public transport services.
In the area of good governance, EUR 60 million are planned in the Ministry of Transport budget, including EUR 11 million for the availability of high-quality and convenient postal services throughout the territory of Latvia, and EUR 9.3 million for the maintenance of industry management and information technology (IT) systems.