“If we look at 2019, which was a good year for us, then the drop is 40%. If we had 100 thousand passengers on average in 2019, we're currently at 48-50 thousand,” Godiņš said.
Compared to 2020, this year, the decrease in passengers is 20%. Godiņš explained this by the fact that the first months of last year were not affected by the pandemic.
“So Covid-19 has had very tangible consequences. And it has also had consequences for passengers' travel habits. In the past, people traveled very much during working days, and now you can see that some work at home and some work partly at their office,” said the head of the Road Transport Administration.
To cover the losses, €100 million was required, €20 million of which was related to the effects of Covid-19. “Due to Covid-19, assistance [from the state budget] was needed twice and was granted twice,” Godiņš said.
Godiņš said 3.7% of employees in public transportation did not have Covid-19 certificates, and their employment had been terminated.
