DEVELOPMENT OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT: FUTURE CHALLENGES OF LIEPAJA` S TRAM (LATVIA)

Transport has always had an important role in the lifestyle of population and development of economy, but the public transport performs mainly the social function – it works for the benefit of the society. Development and quality of services must be provided also for the public transport companies, however, we meet different problems related to infrastructure and traffic for this to happen. To successfully manage and develop a public transport company, it is essential to change the thinking of people in favour of the public transport, not for the personal transport. It is necessary to ensure the sustainability as the main value, which means selection of the right public transport system. The authors relied on the experience of formation of a unified transport system in the world and Latvia's largest cities' strategic vision for public transport development. Taking into account the fact that Liepaja is one the three cities in Latvia where the public transport service is provided by a tram, an empiric research was made. Its aim was to clarify the opinion of the inhabitants of Liepaja, regarding the services provided by Liepaja trams, regarding the possible improvements and necessity for development. 200 inhabitants of Liepaja were questioned within the framework of the research. The results of the research revealed that although the tram provides daily the inhabitants of Liepaja with the movement possibilities, unfortunately inhabitants are not ready yet to replace their personal transport with the public transport – tram to settle their daily problems. The results of the research allowed to conclude that future development possibilities and perspectives of the tram in Liepaja City can be related mainly with the creation of a new route, purchase of new carriages and unified public transport system in Liepaja City.