On one hand, it's understandable. On the other hand, if we want to incentivise people to switch from cars to public transport, it has to become quicker, cheaper and more convenient than personal vehicles. Currently, only one of those is true, and the price increase will be a step in the opposite direction. Su much for Green Capital 2025.
I totally agree that despite all the bad things with Vilnius public transport, it was affordable. 65 cents for a 30 minute ticket including a possibility to use it on another bus is a fairly good deal. If/when the fares go up - and they would go up quite a bit - this good "deal" would be gone and we'll be left only with slow, uncomfortable and unpleasant public transport experience. I can't see this NOT affecting the share of trips in the city on public transport in a negative way. In fact, JUDU are avoiding answering any questions about whether public transport ridership has increased or decreased as a proportion of all trips within the city over the past few years (yes, I did ask them), which can mean only one thing - it keeps decreasing in favour of cars. Now imagine fares going up nearly twice. Will it keep the ridership decreasing or somehow make a 180 degree turn and start increasing? I think the answer is clear. Unfortunately, this means that even fewer people will use public transport, we'll have even more cars on the streets, more complaints of traffic jams and more demands to build ever lacking parking spaces for all those car users. Also, when the representative of JUDU said that fares did not increase for 12 years, she conveniently ignored such examples like Germany's Deutschlandticket initiative which allows to travel on all public transport in the entire country for 58 Euros per month. Anyway, it's just frustrating and sad. The only positive ray of light in the otherwise miserable landscape of Lithuanian urban public transport is Kaunas's initiative to build a tram. If they pull this off, it will be something. I really wish they do pull it off, so that these @#$%! in Vilnius city municipality start moving their asses too and start actually improving Vilnius public transport from the current miserable state that it's in.
It was very strange that new trolleybuses are so much smaller in the capacity then older ones. I guess with this kind of pricing increase it makes sense now, because a lot of people ar not gonna use it anymore.
If this goes through it'll be cheaper and much faster to own a car than go by bus for me personally. They should be making public transport free, not more expensive, especially considering how often the busses are late or don't arrive at all. I believe I'm an anomaly but pretty much every month I have at least 2 busses that fail to arrive for whatever reason. The more realistic outcome from this change is that many more people will simply refuse to pay the tickets and ride for free, as they should if such a change comes through.
You probably use more niche buses which is to be expected. Used to ride those for work to like Žemieji Paneriai, Vilkpėdė and Riešė. All sorts of aspects of public transport such as bus quality, schedule availability along with clarity of arrival always went down compared to the more popular and central routes.
@esteebangus Unfortunately I use the common routes, such as 4g and 16 trolleys the most. Funnily enough after writing that comment, I had to take the 16th trolley back home and it didn't arrive, making my 40~ min commute into about a 70 min walk + commute. I love Vilniaus Viešasis Transportas!!!! (sarcasm)
Some people will get into cars, which means more congestion. 2-3 riders in the car will make the car ride justifiable (give or take a few cents, and you're not waiting in the weather).
The family ticket seems like a great idea which should be implemented in Lithuania way more. But as a citizen of Kaunas I really hope our city doesn't follow Vilnius's actions this time. The ticket prices are already cheaper than Vilnius and hopefully it stays that way.
If implemented, yearly ticket in Vilnius would cost 540 euros, while in Vienna with its' perfect subway ant tram lines the yearly price is only 360 euros. 😬
Vilnius was "nominated" as the NUMBER ONE european city in its population range (while not being too far off from major cities like Paris or London which dwarfs it in comparison), that's the most congested and time wasting via traffic and this is how they go about solving this issue?
Hopefully the current fare price system remains in place until later this summer so I can enjoy cheap public transport during my visit to Vilnius and Lithuania in May :)
I would pay tripple the price if that meant buses actually on time. Was visiting from Switzerland and went to see a friend in Fabijoniskes. Bus 53 was late to arrive and when it did, turns out they phased out buying tickets from the driver and my card didn't work at the stupid ticket machines, so I had to jump out. Waited for the second one which was also late. In the end I missed my train and LTG apparently doesn't refund you the ticket price, even if you try to refund it 30min in advance. 🙃
So wouldn’t you think that the conclusion of your experience is not to pay more for a service you already paid for but to perhaps increase funding, perhaps nationalise, or build better bus lanes and plan routes as well as increase funding and give more power to local government to do this more effectively and efficiently to the needs of the local people? Rather than asking for more for the same service just because private enterprise wants to see larger margins of profit.
Sounds about right in terms of how I would describe the overall vibe and experience of Vilnius public transport. I wouldn't even know where to start. Let's just say it's far, and I mean VERY fu**in far from being even remotely comparable to civilized modern public transport of a European city like Warsaw or Prague, not to mention cities in Germany or Sweden. It's incredibly frustrating that after all those decades of independence, development and growth we can't grasp the basics of public transport. I wonder when are we going to understand this?
@AntoninusV I mean, I assume raising the ticket prices would actually mean more funding leading to better solutions, but I'm not an expert on how VVT operates. I can only say that it was frustrating 10 years ago when I lived in Vilnius and now it's somehow even worse - probably because now I actually have something to compare it to. If the price increase means positive changes (preferably sooner rather than later), I wouldn't mind paying more. If the service stays the same, then nah.
Bus control also sells "tickets" which costs half minimal fine (8EUR). So you could just continue riding bus without a ticket and if you get caught, just pay up. Probably better than missing a train.
@ How can anyone who's not local know that information exactly? Actually, scratch that, my friend who's local didn't even tell me that was a possibility, so she probably doesn't even know either. Ended up downloading Trafi where the minimum amount was set to 5 eur, so I had to buy a 24 hour ticket instead of a single which is also annoying. I've never seen this inflexibility in any other country.
Wow that is big change. Current prices Are very low - I think Bratislava can be Good compare in this topic. Prices here For Basic tucet Are 30min - 1,1€ And 1h - 1,6€. I remember that the prices simillar those in Vilnius aswe had about 15 years ago. I think that such a big jump in prices will be caused by the outflow of some people from public transport. However, I would say that the set price is adequate.
There are trams in Bratislava, 42 m. long and 24 m. long trolleybuses, also, there are many daily night busses. Despite being 1.5 times larger city, Vilnius only has very narrow 13 m. long trolleybuses, also more than a 100 trolleybuses, produced in the 1980s in Czechoslovakia... There are no night routes at all and the service stops at 23:00, sometimes it is difficult to commute to the outskirts from the city center. Public transport in Vilnius is pathetic.
@@arturass3896 oh I didn't know there were no overnight connections. I imagine that sucks pretty bad. I knew there were no trams in Vilnius, but I thought that was compensated for by trolleybuses and buses. From your comment, it looks like the compensation isn't quite enough. Taking this into account, I find the ticket price quite high. I don't think the city is getting enough service. In Bratislava, for example, public transport is not profitable - but its costs have been minimised
Hah, great. Food, nicotine product, service and housing prices have already increased. Why not follow suit and increase the pressure on the ever-shrinking youth and financially worse off folk of Vilnius via the public transport sector, eh world?
Yeah, pricing increase for public transportation is quite a logic step towards futher ensuring a quality service. Yet, in comparison to Kaunas, where ticket pricing is currently a bit more expensive than in Vilnius and transportation fleet is much more newer than in Vilnius (looking at you old SKODA trolley :D) does this needs to be increased by that much?? And for the fleet that is already being used?? In my opinion, the ticket inspectors should change of tactics to ensure the people are actually buying and using tickets, since there's a still viable thing that some passengers are not buying tickets and thus leading to less gathering of funds. And again another aspect - increasing price for the public transporation which nowadays is getting more often late, seems to be unfair. And personally, this would make me to think of getting my own car or travel by bike/e.scooter. :))
Visit Warsaw. It has greater service, newer fleet, one can use metro even slightly after the midnight, there night busses every day... One will wait less for the bus, tram, metro, train in Warsaw and will pay less for the trip. Warsaw is massively expanding its' public transport building new metro stations, new tramway lines, refurbishing its' crossrail line (one can travel within Warsaw via railway line), many railway and bus stations... They do it using the EU funds: building new rails, digging tunnels, renovating stations, buying new trams and metro trains... We are LOSERS and out politicians are LOSERS compared to the Poles... :(
Was in Vilnius last year, those new busses are nice. Suprising that there have not been a price rises since 2013. In Riga they changed to 90 minute passes for 1.50 and reduced monthly from 50 to 30 euros in 2023
There are trams in Riga, ca. 30 m. long and 18 m. long trolleybuses, also, there are city train lines, which serve the city, connecting the central part with Zolitude, Imanta. Despite being the same size city, Vilnius only has very narrow 13 m. long trolleybuses, also more than a 100 trolleybuses, produced in the 1980s in Czechoslovakia... There are no night routes at all and the service stops at 23:00, sometimes it is difficult to commute to the outskirts from the city center around 22:45-23:05. The railway is almost abandoned within the city, I myself sometimes use railway while traveling from the center to Naujoji Vilnia, but there are usually like one train every two hours and the last one - at 18:50. Public transport in Vilnius is pathetic.
tl;dr GREENEST CITY 2025 can become SHITTIEST CITY 2026 If the prices double, me and the boyz will switch to cheap air-polluting cars or annoying scooters. It'll be cheaper to commute! Vilnius bicycle infrastructure is still a mockery and cannot be used everywhere and throughout the year, so please don't even try forcing me cycling on everyday basis along the broken side walks among the soviet slums (70% of the city, btw). Don't double the prices, Vilniaus savivaldybe! Find another ways to fund the city's needs than to get into my wallet - your new buses and trolleybuses are not my freaking problem (these buses are not even something outstanding), as the doubling of prices is too drastic to justify or ignore. I thing it's better to introduce additional taxes for car owners rather then screwing up the humble pedestrians and public transport users. Otherwise, JUDU should introduce 15 min. tickets and family tickets with 50% discount (at least). P.S. Riga's public transport prices suck ass. Don't do like Riga. Paying 1.5 euro for a bus ticket is an act of subordination to corruption (or incompetence). I don’t understand why the people of Riga didn’t rebel.
Most active users will either not pay or get the monthly pass (30 euro for infinite drives) But it indeed is robbery if you're infrequent user like me🫡, buses always have awful smell, trams are nice
Oops - 03:06 should say 2025... of course. 😕
On one hand, it's understandable. On the other hand, if we want to incentivise people to switch from cars to public transport, it has to become quicker, cheaper and more convenient than personal vehicles. Currently, only one of those is true, and the price increase will be a step in the opposite direction. Su much for Green Capital 2025.
I totally agree that despite all the bad things with Vilnius public transport, it was affordable. 65 cents for a 30 minute ticket including a possibility to use it on another bus is a fairly good deal. If/when the fares go up - and they would go up quite a bit - this good "deal" would be gone and we'll be left only with slow, uncomfortable and unpleasant public transport experience. I can't see this NOT affecting the share of trips in the city on public transport in a negative way. In fact, JUDU are avoiding answering any questions about whether public transport ridership has increased or decreased as a proportion of all trips within the city over the past few years (yes, I did ask them), which can mean only one thing - it keeps decreasing in favour of cars. Now imagine fares going up nearly twice. Will it keep the ridership decreasing or somehow make a 180 degree turn and start increasing? I think the answer is clear. Unfortunately, this means that even fewer people will use public transport, we'll have even more cars on the streets, more complaints of traffic jams and more demands to build ever lacking parking spaces for all those car users.
Also, when the representative of JUDU said that fares did not increase for 12 years, she conveniently ignored such examples like Germany's Deutschlandticket initiative which allows to travel on all public transport in the entire country for 58 Euros per month.
Anyway, it's just frustrating and sad. The only positive ray of light in the otherwise miserable landscape of Lithuanian urban public transport is Kaunas's initiative to build a tram. If they pull this off, it will be something. I really wish they do pull it off, so that these @#$%! in Vilnius city municipality start moving their asses too and start actually improving Vilnius public transport from the current miserable state that it's in.
To double the price? Why not make it incremental? It is like asking for public outrage...
I think it should have been incremental over the past 13 years but now they are just catching up with one big increase :(
It was very strange that new trolleybuses are so much smaller in the capacity then older ones. I guess with this kind of pricing increase it makes sense now, because a lot of people ar not gonna use it anymore.
If this goes through it'll be cheaper and much faster to own a car than go by bus for me personally. They should be making public transport free, not more expensive, especially considering how often the busses are late or don't arrive at all.
I believe I'm an anomaly but pretty much every month I have at least 2 busses that fail to arrive for whatever reason.
The more realistic outcome from this change is that many more people will simply refuse to pay the tickets and ride for free, as they should if such a change comes through.
You probably use more niche buses which is to be expected. Used to ride those for work to like Žemieji Paneriai, Vilkpėdė and Riešė. All sorts of aspects of public transport such as bus quality, schedule availability along with clarity of arrival always went down compared to the more popular and central routes.
@esteebangus Unfortunately I use the common routes, such as 4g and 16 trolleys the most.
Funnily enough after writing that comment, I had to take the 16th trolley back home and it didn't arrive, making my 40~ min commute into about a 70 min walk + commute. I love Vilniaus Viešasis Transportas!!!! (sarcasm)
Some people will get into cars, which means more congestion. 2-3 riders in the car will make the car ride justifiable (give or take a few cents, and you're not waiting in the weather).
They plan to return the "stealthy" or "undercover ticket control.
The family ticket seems like a great idea which should be implemented in Lithuania way more. But as a citizen of Kaunas I really hope our city doesn't follow Vilnius's actions this time. The ticket prices are already cheaper than Vilnius and hopefully it stays that way.
If implemented, yearly ticket in Vilnius would cost 540 euros, while in Vienna with its' perfect subway ant tram lines the yearly price is only 360 euros. 😬
Vilnius was "nominated" as the NUMBER ONE european city in its population range (while not being too far off from major cities like Paris or London which dwarfs it in comparison), that's the most congested and time wasting via traffic and this is how they go about solving this issue?
Not great timing as the 2025 Green Capital of Europe :(
Hopefully the current fare price system remains in place until later this summer so I can enjoy cheap public transport during my visit to Vilnius and Lithuania in May :)
I would pay tripple the price if that meant buses actually on time. Was visiting from Switzerland and went to see a friend in Fabijoniskes. Bus 53 was late to arrive and when it did, turns out they phased out buying tickets from the driver and my card didn't work at the stupid ticket machines, so I had to jump out. Waited for the second one which was also late. In the end I missed my train and LTG apparently doesn't refund you the ticket price, even if you try to refund it 30min in advance. 🙃
So wouldn’t you think that the conclusion of your experience is not to pay more for a service you already paid for but to perhaps increase funding, perhaps nationalise, or build better bus lanes and plan routes as well as increase funding and give more power to local government to do this more effectively and efficiently to the needs of the local people?
Rather than asking for more for the same service just because private enterprise wants to see larger margins of profit.
Sounds about right in terms of how I would describe the overall vibe and experience of Vilnius public transport. I wouldn't even know where to start. Let's just say it's far, and I mean VERY fu**in far from being even remotely comparable to civilized modern public transport of a European city like Warsaw or Prague, not to mention cities in Germany or Sweden. It's incredibly frustrating that after all those decades of independence, development and growth we can't grasp the basics of public transport. I wonder when are we going to understand this?
@AntoninusV I mean, I assume raising the ticket prices would actually mean more funding leading to better solutions, but I'm not an expert on how VVT operates. I can only say that it was frustrating 10 years ago when I lived in Vilnius and now it's somehow even worse - probably because now I actually have something to compare it to. If the price increase means positive changes (preferably sooner rather than later), I wouldn't mind paying more. If the service stays the same, then nah.
Bus control also sells "tickets" which costs half minimal fine (8EUR). So you could just continue riding bus without a ticket and if you get caught, just pay up. Probably better than missing a train.
@ How can anyone who's not local know that information exactly? Actually, scratch that, my friend who's local didn't even tell me that was a possibility, so she probably doesn't even know either. Ended up downloading Trafi where the minimum amount was set to 5 eur, so I had to buy a 24 hour ticket instead of a single which is also annoying. I've never seen this inflexibility in any other country.
I’d prefer adding land value tax or renting out real estate around stops and stations.
i mean bus skipping apps are gonna go crazy
Wow that is big change. Current prices Are very low - I think Bratislava can be Good compare in this topic. Prices here For Basic tucet Are 30min - 1,1€ And 1h - 1,6€. I remember that the prices simillar those in Vilnius aswe had about 15 years ago. I think that such a big jump in prices will be caused by the outflow of some people from public transport. However, I would say that the set price is adequate.
There are trams in Bratislava, 42 m. long and 24 m. long trolleybuses, also, there are many daily night busses. Despite being 1.5 times larger city, Vilnius only has very narrow 13 m. long trolleybuses, also more than a 100 trolleybuses, produced in the 1980s in Czechoslovakia... There are no night routes at all and the service stops at 23:00, sometimes it is difficult to commute to the outskirts from the city center. Public transport in Vilnius is pathetic.
@@arturass3896 oh I didn't know there were no overnight connections. I imagine that sucks pretty bad. I knew there were no trams in Vilnius, but I thought that was compensated for by trolleybuses and buses. From your comment, it looks like the compensation isn't quite enough. Taking this into account, I find the ticket price quite high. I don't think the city is getting enough service. In Bratislava, for example, public transport is not profitable - but its costs have been minimised
Is it July 1st, 2024 at 03:06
Thanks for letting me know.
@@LithuaniaExplained did you blur out the year in youtube editing tools? Didn't know you can do that.
@Dwesk yup. Other than trimming out the video clip it’s the only thing I could think to do without re-uploading
Interesting why there is more cars?
Hah, great. Food, nicotine product, service and housing prices have already increased. Why not follow suit and increase the pressure on the ever-shrinking youth and financially worse off folk of Vilnius via the public transport sector, eh world?
Yeah, pricing increase for public transportation is quite a logic step towards futher ensuring a quality service. Yet, in comparison to Kaunas, where ticket pricing is currently a bit more expensive than in Vilnius and transportation fleet is much more newer than in Vilnius (looking at you old SKODA trolley :D) does this needs to be increased by that much?? And for the fleet that is already being used?? In my opinion, the ticket inspectors should change of tactics to ensure the people are actually buying and using tickets, since there's a still viable thing that some passengers are not buying tickets and thus leading to less gathering of funds. And again another aspect - increasing price for the public transporation which nowadays is getting more often late, seems to be unfair. And personally, this would make me to think of getting my own car or travel by bike/e.scooter. :))
Visit Warsaw. It has greater service, newer fleet, one can use metro even slightly after the midnight, there night busses every day... One will wait less for the bus, tram, metro, train in Warsaw and will pay less for the trip. Warsaw is massively expanding its' public transport building new metro stations, new tramway lines, refurbishing its' crossrail line (one can travel within Warsaw via railway line), many railway and bus stations... They do it using the EU funds: building new rails, digging tunnels, renovating stations, buying new trams and metro trains... We are LOSERS and out politicians are LOSERS compared to the Poles... :(
Was in Vilnius last year, those new busses are nice. Suprising that there have not been a price rises since 2013. In Riga they changed to 90 minute passes for 1.50 and reduced monthly from 50 to 30 euros in 2023
There are trams in Riga, ca. 30 m. long and 18 m. long trolleybuses, also, there are city train lines, which serve the city, connecting the central part with Zolitude, Imanta. Despite being the same size city, Vilnius only has very narrow 13 m. long trolleybuses, also more than a 100 trolleybuses, produced in the 1980s in Czechoslovakia... There are no night routes at all and the service stops at 23:00, sometimes it is difficult to commute to the outskirts from the city center around 22:45-23:05. The railway is almost abandoned within the city, I myself sometimes use railway while traveling from the center to Naujoji Vilnia, but there are usually like one train every two hours and the last one - at 18:50. Public transport in Vilnius is pathetic.
At least make it 1 EUR. Nice round number.
Nope
While Estonia is switching to free public transport. Lithuania is doubling prices. Great.
Estonia is just on another level
Should probably just raise taxes a bit instead
Hi sir
This is stupid. Should they increase price, yes but not double. And if you increase price, say that VVT will do.
tl;dr GREENEST CITY 2025 can become SHITTIEST CITY 2026
If the prices double, me and the boyz will switch to cheap air-polluting cars or annoying scooters. It'll be cheaper to commute! Vilnius bicycle infrastructure is still a mockery and cannot be used everywhere and throughout the year, so please don't even try forcing me cycling on everyday basis along the broken side walks among the soviet slums (70% of the city, btw). Don't double the prices, Vilniaus savivaldybe! Find another ways to fund the city's needs than to get into my wallet - your new buses and trolleybuses are not my freaking problem (these buses are not even something outstanding), as the doubling of prices is too drastic to justify or ignore.
I thing it's better to introduce additional taxes for car owners rather then screwing up the humble pedestrians and public transport users. Otherwise, JUDU should introduce 15 min. tickets and family tickets with 50% discount (at least).
P.S. Riga's public transport prices suck ass. Don't do like Riga. Paying 1.5 euro for a bus ticket is an act of subordination to corruption (or incompetence). I don’t understand why the people of Riga didn’t rebel.
Most active users will either not pay or get the monthly pass (30 euro for infinite drives)
But it indeed is robbery if you're infrequent user like me🫡, buses always have awful smell, trams are nice