Ministry: TLT should be more active in training young bus drivers
Head of AS Tallinna Linnatransport (TLT) Kaido Padar, has proposed an amendment to the Traffic Act, which would allow 18-year-olds to become bus drivers. However, according to a specialist at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, the law already allows for this and TLT should be more active in training young drivers itself.
In an official letter to Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications Tiit Riisalo (Eesti 200), Padar wrote, that AS Tallinna Linnatransport, which provides public passenger transport services both in and outside Tallinn, and operates 72 bus routes, is suffering from a shortage of bus drivers.
According to Padar, the reason for this, is that young people cannot take up the profession, as the Traffic Act only allows 18-year-olds to work as bus drivers, if the route they drive on is shorter than 50 kilometers. "In Tallinn however, bus drivers typically have to cover 150-300 kilometers a day," said Padar.
"It is becoming increasingly difficult for us to provide an important service in the general interest, because it is not possible to get bus drivers at the right time. By the time they reach the age the Traffic Act allows [them to drive buses], young people have already made their career choices. The problem goes beyond just our company. It affects the entire sector and is only getting worse," Padar wrote.
Ain Tatter, head of the roads and railways department at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, told ERR that Tallinna Linnatransport was misinterpreting the law. "In the law, what is meant is the length of the (bus) route, not the daily distance travelled," Tatter said.
"Perhaps the amendment to the Traffic Act, which came into force in 2007, already provided TLT with the opportunity to train and employ people under 24 years of age, if there is the interest, because in Tallinn and other cities there are presumably a significant number of routes that are less than 50 kilometers. Unfortunately, neither TLT nor other operators in the transport sector have taken advantage of this opportunity," said Tatter.
Tatter also pointed out, that in light of the increased shortage of professional drivers in the transport sector, a draft proposal has been made to amend the Traffic Act, which would allow without limitation, anyone who is aged 20, holds at least a category B driver's license and has completed a 280-hour course of professional training, or anyone who is aged 23 with at least a category B driver's license and has completed a 140-hour course, to be able to drive a category D vehicle on a 50-kilometer route.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications intends to submit the proposal to the government at the end of the year.
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Editor: Michael Cole