Riga's e-ticket program, vaunted as a cost-cutter during its launch, now appears to be a pricy boondoggle after the recent audit.

RIGA — Riga Mayor Nils Ušakovs said Friday that Latvia’s capital may abandon its newly-implemented public transportation e-ticket system to save costs.

Ušakovs said it was too expensive to maintain in light of a State Audit Office report concluding that the new system would cost the city about 100 million lats (€142 million) more over the next 13 years than the old ticket punch system.

Ušakovs said the city council would aim to reduce fees as much as possible before reverting to the old system.

In December the Riga public transport increased fare prices in an attempt to cover the cost of the new system, which was initially predicted to save millions of lats annually in paper and labor costs.

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