Rīgas Satiksme is a municipally-owned public transportation and infrastructure company serving Riga, Latvia and the surrounding areas. It was founded on 20 February 2003 as an umbrella organisation for the respective operators of trams, buses and trolleybuses in the city of Riga. Two years later, the separate operators of the different modes of public transport were merged and re-branded to its current name.
Along with public transport services, Rīgas Satiksme also administers paid parking services throughout the city. It currently employs roughly 4,100 staff and its passengers completed 146.8 million rides in 2015. In 2018 the debt of Rīgas Satiksme reached nearly 300 million.
Structure
The company PLC "Rīgas satiksme" was founded on February 20, 2003, by merging the bus fleets "Imanta" and "Tālava". In January 2005, four PLCs of the Riga Municipality were merged — "Rīgas satiksme" (bus service), "Tramvaju un trolejbusu pārvalde" (electric transport), "Rīgas autostāvvietas" (car parks) and "Rīgas domes autobāze" (Riga City Council car depot). As a result, "Rīgas satiksme" has become the largest enterprise of the city government, employing 6,500 people.
The company is a member of the Latvian Association of Latvian Passengers, the Latvian Quality Association and the Latvian Association of Auto-Engineering.
Until December 12, 2018, Leons Bemhens was the chairman of the Board of the enterprise. From December 13, 2018, the acting manager of the enterprise was Anrijs Matīss (until early 2019), who was replaced by Ernests Saulītis, with Ernests Ozols being elected for a full five-year term on 1 February 2022.
The fare, when buying a ticket from the driver, is €2. When paying using an e-ticket (E-talons), the fare is reduced (depending on the type of ticket) to €1,15.
3 types of e-ticket are available:
Personalised e-ticket
A plastic card with a microchip that confirms its belonging to a particular passenger. This is a card with a photo, first and last name.
Unpersonalised E-ticket
A plastic card with a microchip without confirming the identity of a particular passenger. It is possible to purchase such a card and replenish it as needed.
Yellow E-ticket
Cardboard ticket with a microchip for a certain time or number of trips. The cardboard ticket is valid for three months from the date of purchase.
History
The first electric tram began operating on the streets of Riga on July 11 (24), 1901. It replaced the horse-drawn carriage service that had been started in the autumn of 1882.
The first buses appeared in Riga in 1913, but before the First World War they had no significant transport value. The progenitor of this type of transport is a horse-drawn omnibus, which made the first trip in 1852.
The first trolley bus was introduced at the beginning of 1947 on the experimental route "Air Bridge — Brasa Station", and on November 4, 1947, a regular trolleybus service was opened on the "Viesturdārzs – Ģertrūdes street". In 1973 in Riga, the invention of Kyiv native Volodymyr Veklych - the trolleybus train - was successfully implemented. It consisted of two units of Škoda 9TR trolley buses, interconnected by Volodymyr Veklych's system. The maximum number of trains in operation were used between 1984 and 1987.
Although Riga was the largest of the capitals of the Scandinavian and Baltic countries (counting without agglomeration), it was not destined to have its own subway, unlike almost all other cities millionaires of the USSR. The Riga Metro was planned to be constructed beginning from 1990, the commissioning of the first starting section of 8 stations was scheduled for 2000—2002, but the creation was canceled due to the public protests and the collapse of the USSR.
Buses
Bus routes
Bus routes in Riga as of .
Current fleet
Trolleybuses
The first trolleybuses in Riga entered service in 1947, using a portion of the budget initially set aside for the new tramway, with the intention of moving slightly slower trams away from the city centre to allow for faster trolleybuses. The service was operated initially by Soviet-built units, although these were later replaced by Škoda vehicles brought in from Czechoslovakia. Conductors remained on trolleybuses for five years after they disappeared from the buses, with electric ticket machines replacing them in 1975. Conductors were re-introduced on the trolleybus network in 1997 and remained until 2007 when new electronic ticket machines were installed. These were in turn replaced in 2009 with e-tickets (e-talons).
Trolleybus routes
Trolleybus routes in Riga as of .