One of the reasons behind my move to Lithuania was that it is a perfect case study of 20th century European history, with its independence between the two World Wars, then the occupation by the Soviet Union, by Nazi Germany, by the Soviet Union again, one of the main killing fields of the Holocaust and finally independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
When I checked the ticket prices for the buses in Vilnius, I came across the following price list. If you read through some of the categories of persons who receive a discount, you will get a very short history of Lithuania in the 20th century.
| PASSENGERS | Type of tickets and price in litas | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| single tickets | nominal monthly tickets | ||||||
| at kiosk | in trolleybus and bus | to go by trolleybus | to go by bus | to go by trolleybus and bus | |||
| 1. | Students, pupils | 1,00 | 1,25 | 17,00 | 17,00 | 22,00 | |
| 2. | Pensioners up to 80 years old | 1,00 | 1,25 | 42,50 | 42,50 | 55,00 | |
| 3. | People with accepted partial perfomance (partly disabled) | 1,00 | 1,25 | 42,50 | 42,50 | 55,00 | |
| 4. | People who were identified as invalid of cat. II till 2005 | 1,00 | 1,25 | 42,50 | 42,50 | 55,00 | |
| 5. | Participants of resistance to 1940-1990 occupations – military volunteers under 70 years of age and participants of fights for liberation | 1,00 | 1,25 | 42,50 | 42,50 | 55,00 | |
| 6. | Persons who have suffered from 1939-1990 occupations – political prisoners and exiles and former prisoners of ghettos, concentration camps and other types of suppression camps | 1,00 | 1,25 | 42,50 | 42,50 | 55,00 | |
| 7. | Defenders of independence of the Republic of Lithuania who have become disabled due to Soviet Union aggression during January 11-13, 1991 and at later times | 1,00 | 1,25 | 42,50 | 42,50 | 55,00 | |
| 8. | Family members of the perished defenders of independence of the Republic of Lithuania who have suffered from Soviet Union aggression during January 11-13, 1991 and at later times | 0,40 | – | 17,00 | 17,00 | 22,00 | |
| 9. | Persons with a disability rate, or the recognition of disabled persons | 0,40 | – | 17,00 | 17,00 | 22,00 | |
| 10. | Persons who are ill with diseases included in the list drawn-up by the Ministry of Health and whose treatment constantly requires haemodialysis and to their escort (one escort for one person) | 0,40 | – | 17,00 | 17,00 | 22,00 | |
| 11. | Participants of resistance to 1940-1990 occupations – military volunteers 70 years of age and older | 0,40 | – | 17,00 | 17,00 | 22,00 | |
| 12. | Protectors of Lithuania independency, injured during 1991 January 11-13 and afters, with accepted partial perfomance (partly disabled) and reached the age of old-age pension | 0,40 | – | 17,00 | 17,00 | 22,00 | |
| 13. | Pensioners over 80 years old | 0,40 | – | 17,00 | 17,00 | 22,00 | |
| 14. | People who were identified as children invalid or invalids of cat. I till 2005 | 0,40 | – | 17,00 | 17,00 | 22,00 | |
| 15. | All other persons (no discount) | only working days | 2,00 | 2,50 | 75,00 | 75,00 | 100,00 |
| working days and weekends | 85,00 | 85,00 | 110,00 | ||||
(C) for the photo: Bjørn Giesenbauer
The Happy Hermit 
Interesting that they would go through the work of separately identifying the various resistance/defence groups, then charge them the exact same fare. I assume there are other cases, where the different categories would see different prices? (That’s sort of a rhetorical question – you can answer it through a later post.)
Is there any obvious favourite manufacturer of cars or buses, or is it just a typical urban hodgepodge?
@John Erickson: Wikipedia to the rescue: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolleybuses_in_Vilnius
Well, thank you, and shame on me, I should’ve known better – considering I have eight Wiki tabs open right now! (It’s the easiest way to compare different makes of WW2 Italian fighters. Take it from a history geek! :D )
Haha country history in the ticket price list! You`ve got an eye to see beyond the surface Andreas! BTW, a very nice picture. I have crossed that place hundreds of thousands of times and never saw it that beautiful like in your pic! Thank you!
I really found this very detailed price list very funny, but also a good way to start learning about Lithuania’s history.
The photo is not mine, though.
I also crossed this place a few hundred times because I lived on Savanoriu prospektas.
But Savanorių prospektas is far from there! And you sound like you were walking on foot.
Most of the time yes. I love to walk for hours. But there are also plenty of buses and trolley buses going in that direction. I really loved that part of town, easily accessible and right next to Vingis Park. In one minute from home, I was in the forest. Best place I ever lived!
Happy to hear that!
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