On September 22, a valuable working session took place in Riga within the framework of the international project Baltic Loop. Discussion participants from state and municipal institutions, Riga planning region and industry experts created a SWOT analysis on how to reduce traffic bottlenecks and hindrances. The work will continue in the next sessions but in the meantime some good lessons from the discussion!
Strengths
Strengths:
- Clearly understood policy planning system in Latvia
- Cooperation between the administration of the Riga planning region and the local governments of the region in all areas, incl. in the transport sector
- Inter-ministerial working groups to address specific issues in the transport sector
- A common vision for integration into the Single European Transport Area
Opportunities
Options:
- Exploiting the research and development (R&D) potential of higher education and research institutions in transport planning
- Identification and use of examples of good practice from Europe and other countries of the world in the Latvian transport sector
- Use of synergies of EU cross-border as well as other projects in the development of the Latvian transport system
- Experience in dealing with emergencies (Covid-19) and increasing the speed of decision-making
- Development of smart and environmentally friendly technologies and their impact on the development of the transport sector
Weaknesses
- Congestion with policy planning documents, frequent amendments to legislation
- Lack of vision/strategy for overall long-term transport development
- Rapid staff turnover at the decision-making level, which makes communication difficult
- Non-systematic cooperation between public administration and academic environment (use of research results)
Threats
- Lack of common policies and measures at the level of EU Member States, including to eliminate the consequences of Covid-19
- Developments in unforeseen political events in the Eastern neighbor countries and the impact on international transport flows
- The unpredictability of the Latvian legal environment (changes)
