Transport Administration director Kaido Padar said the administration cannot use resources from road or IT investments to cover operating costs and that cuts have to be made from the department's budget.

The largest cut will come from road maintenance, but building repairs and vehicle fleet works, prevention, training, campaigns and labor costs will also be affected.

"We have assessed all budget lines down to the thousands to draw up a plan for cuts. The most difficult decision for each party involved was reducing jobs, but we can see that the administrations merging has made work processes more effective and such cuts can be made without making concessions in the service quality," Padar said.

All Transport Administration services will reduce their number of staff by 5 percent this year and the public relations service will be reduced by 10 percent. A total of 18 people will be left without jobs, five people are on paternal leave and their posts will not be filled or will move to different departments and positions.

Padar said the services will be assessed again next year. "We have set a goal to reduce time cost for at least 10 service processes by at least 25 percent. We will work toward our services being client-centered and as effective as possible," the director said.

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