On Wednesday, the Vilnius City Council gave its initial backing to significantly raising public transport fares.
Twenty-nine council members voted in favour of the proposal, 20 opposed it, and one member abstained.
The vote took place amid a protest of around 120 people opposed to more expensive public transport.
The new pricing proposal will now be discussed in committees and at the next Council meeting in March.
If the Council adopts the final decision, the updated fares will enter into force on July 1 this year.
Under the proposal, the 30-minute ticket would increase in price from €0.65 to €1.25, while the 60-minute ticket, from €0.9 to €1.75.
If approved, the changes would raise the price of the one-day ticket to €7.5 (it now costs €5), the three-day ticket would cost €13.5 (up from €8).
The monthly pass would rise by from €29 to €45. The annual pass would cost €480 instead of €310,
The proposal also introduces new kinds of tickets: the family ticket (€3.5) and group tickets for 10-15 and 16-25 people.
All reduced fares would remain valid under the current arrangements.
Over 120 people staged a protest
On Wednesday, the Fridays for Future climate movement and the G1PS trade union organised a protest in front of Vilnius City Hall, attended by over 120 people.
The rally participants told BNS that rising ticket prices could lead to fewer people using public transport.
The Lithuanian Union of the Blind and Partially Sighted also opposes the price increase, saying the city has failed to make public transport usable by people with visual impairments.
The municipality estimates that the increase in fares would raise around €20 million a year. This, it claims, is intended to partially cover investments in public transport services.
According to the municipality, last year it collected around €34 million from fares, while the city covered the remaining public transport costs of €84 million.
Public transport fares in Vilnius have not changed since 2013.
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