Tallinn Offers Free Public Transportation to All Residents (31)

Published: 11.01.2012 11:48

Tallinn Mayor Edgar Savisaar ( Photo: Postimees/Scanpix )

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Tallinn Mayor Edgar Savisaar said the city is willing to make public transportation free for its residents in 2013, if taxpayers support the idea in a poll from March 19 to 25.

 Currently, pensioners and children of families with financial difficulties are granted free bus rides in Tallinn, reported Õhtuleht. "Free fares would be useful for others in economic hardship, who could instead use the ticket money for a better meal," said Savisaar. 

A three-member family could save up 650 euros per year, the mayor said.

The reform would also popularize travel by bus and reduce the number of cars, congestion and traffic accidents, he added. 

 

Ingrid Teesalu

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Comments (31)

  • Question

    11.01.2012 12:05

    How?

  • Peeter II

    11.01.2012 12:09

    Who's gonna pay these taxes?

  • Center Party to the Rescue

    11.01.2012 12:45

    I guess they will instate a 650-euro-per-year tax.

  • johan

    11.01.2012 12:50

    They will stop Tallinn TV and use the money for this! :D

  • Sardines

    11.01.2012 12:53

    They'll reduce the number of buses by half, and the money they save on fuel and employees can be used to give free transport.

  • Juhan021

    11.01.2012 14:03

    So how are they going to deal with homeless people taking advantage of it? It will change from being public transport in to 'Beggars 24/7' on wheels. As far as I know homelessness is a huge issue in Tallinn, maybe Mr Savisaar should sort that out first before shooting himself in to foot and puting commuters completely off ever using public transport again.

  • Foreigner

    11.01.2012 14:03

    I smell populism... maybe Savisaar is scared he might not get reelected? :)

  • John

    11.01.2012 14:26

    Why all the negative & sarcastic remarks? At least its a step in the right direction. Global warming, traffic congestion, fewer accidents, cleaner air... And, if things in the Middle East get out of hand (Iran) don't be surprised if fuel prices more than double. Petrol at +€4,00 a liter... I for one would happily take the bus!

  • Joao Rei

    11.01.2012 14:29

    If anything, public transportation needs to get more expensive. It's underfunded and won't attract new users (who have a car). If you want people to stop using a car (and I think this should be a goal of any public transportation system in an urban environment) then you won't do it by lowering the price of the tickets, but by increasing the quality of the service.

  • avatar

    knut_albers

    11.01.2012 14:43

    Half of the Cable Cars in San Francisco are for a free ride and so far no one made such "beggars 24/7" claims about this fact as in the comments about this proposal for Tallinn. The reason why they did this has nothing to do with Love for Communism or that they would not want tourist's money, for instance. It is just cheaper to run them without the administrative expenditures involved in the ticket system. I suggest, this is the typical reaction here simply because Savisaar is involved. Objectively speaking, a study a few years ago already suggested that it is cheaper to run Tallinn's puplic transport system without fares, because the ticket inspection and related costs and administration costs of the tickets in general cost more than what is earned through the fares. Hence, this action would not only stop "beggars" be picked up by inspectors that would not be able to pay the fine and cause additional costs to the taxpayers by imprision them for a few days for a "work-out" of the debt, but also relieve the taxpayers, that do not have to make up the difference anymore for this deficit administration. But ok, after all, I understand it's Savisaar that makes people strongly influenced by emotion by default. Let's see, if I now will be branded as a "RAF-Terrorist" or something, since on this page, one must always expect base motives...

  • James

    11.01.2012 15:00

    The article says free for residents. This sounds quite different from abolishing tickets to me.

  • avatar

    knut_albers

    11.01.2012 15:38

    James, good question. I assume they would abolish the whole ticket system as it would make no sense to keep this up for tourists and people coming from the outside of Tallinn. Best practice would be to collect the fares for tourists through some sort of promotional Tourist Card that would also function as a discount on entrance fees at places of interest, attractions and in museums and so on and the bus fares could be paid in particular by these organizers through advertisements. Doesn't Tallinn actually already have such a program? Supra-regional bus routes would be in need to be separated from the other regional routes. It is an organizational matter, though.

  • Mart Mang

    11.01.2012 16:06

    Free bus rides? The rabbits will definately like this...

  • avatar

    knut_albers

    11.01.2012 16:38

    Mart, you forgot to mention the "rats", "crusaders" and "unbelievers." Additionally, we certainly agree that those who would vote in favor of the petition, must be "gangs of drugged cockroaches!" Beware of what you ask for...

  • ameeriklane

    11.01.2012 20:50

    According to the source article, it would be free only for Tallinn residents. So if you live in Tartu or are a tourist, you'l still have to pay. So I don't see them saving much money on adminstrative/enforcement costs, since they still need to have a ticket and enforcement infrastructure in place. My guess would be that this is a way to increase revenues by encouraging more people who live in Tallinn to actually register there. In Estonia, the local government gets money based on how many people are registered in that town. So lots of country people who work in Tallinn stay registered in their town to support their community. Tallinn tried to discourage this a few years ago when the monthly transport passes went to being based on ID cards, and there was a different price for residents and those outside. However, the difference is only 4.50 euro/month (54 EUR/year). If they make it free for city residents, then the difference, at current ticket rates, is 23 EUR/month (276 EUR/year). I bet a lot of people would suddenly start registering in Tallinn to save 276 EUR/year -- that's real money. I looked in the 2010 annual report from Tallinn, and they receive approximately 589 EUR/year for each resident that registers in Tallinn, so there is incentive to get more people to register in Tallinn from the city's financial standpoint.

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