Electronic Ticketing in Public Transport of Lithuania

Having performed an audit of electronic ticketing (e-ticketing) in public transport of Lithuania, the National Audit Office identified failure to coordinate development of the e-ticketing systems and control their expansion to a sufficient degree and to develop the e-ticket project uniformly and consistently. Auditor General Giedrė Švedienė commented the changes in the project costs and work process recorded in the audit report as follows: “Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipėda city municipalities failed to complete the introduction and expansion of the e-ticketing systems in seven years. The amount spent  for  the  e-ticket  project  already  totals  LTL  33.87 million, of which LTL 2.9 million were spent for purchasing equipment which has not been used yet. Moreover, the costs are forecasted to go up to LTL 41.55 million.”

The introduction of the e-ticket project was not smooth and was delayed for a number of reasons. Legal regulation of e-ticketing systems was also delayed, no policy of the development and expansion of e-ticketing systems for public transport has been formulated in Lithuania. Also, there is a lack of close cooperation between the central government, municipalities, public and private sectors. Municipalities were developing their e-ticketing systems following their vision and observing the requirements of the agreement on the assistance of the European funds; however, they failed to carry out sufficient control of how the final outputs are being sought and how the equipment and other informational assets are managed.

The e-ticketing systems in Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipėda cities were supposed to provide favourable conditions for using these systems irrespective of their geographical location. Public auditors established that at the time of the audit the e-ticketing systems in these cities were not inter-coordinated and the principle of payment for tickets through a single e-payment platform did not function. Not all e-ticket tariff systems, measures and payment methods, which help passengers to save money, better plan their time and trips using public transportation, have been used in the said cities, therefore the implementation of the e-ticket project has not produced the expected social and economic benefits. Besides, a possibility to save around LTL 4 million in the event of replacement of paper tickets with electronic ones has not been used.

So far the e-ticketing systems are being introduced and improved only in four municipalities (Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda and Druskininkai). Other ones lack information and possibilities to be able to launch similar projects independently, meanwhile the situation regarding compatibility of the e-ticketing systems lacks clarity.

The National Audit Office recommended the municipalities to review the strategic documents related to the expansion of the e-ticketing systems, to approve a plan for the elimination of deficiencies as well as documentation on development and safety, and to legally validate the systems already used. It has also been recommended to sign protocols of delivery and acceptance of all hardware and software acquired during the project and to start using the equipment which has not been used until now. Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipėda municipalities were recommended to sign mutual agreements on compatibility of the operation of the e-ticketing systems and to provide relevant information and conditions for other municipalities so that they could use the e-ticketing systems which have already been developed.

The Ministry and Transport has been recommended to approve the main provisions of the development and expansion of such systems, the main directions and targeted outcomes, and the concept of the e-ticket in relevant strategic documents.

Public audit report is available in Lithuanian:
Electronic ticketing in public transport of Lithuania