Public transport center chiefs skeptical of ministry's regional merger plan

The directors of 11 county public transport centers and Regional Affairs and Agriculture Minister Piret Hartman (SDE) debated Estonia's planned public transport reform Friday. No decisions were made, but the ministry's plan to merge its current centers into three or four regional ones appears likely to proceed.
After the meeting, Hartman explained that the goal of the reform is to make public transport more user-friendly, attract more ridership and improve efficiency.
"A countrywide perspective and how different modes of transport work together, how we could also accomplish various developments and conduct better procurements — these are all the issues that actually came up today and will need to be resolved in the future," she said.
Pärnu County Public Transport Center (PÜTK) director Andrus Kärpuk promised to pass on the info he received in Paide to his region's local government leaders.
"The info is that the public transport center merger is definitely happening, and the goal is to complete it by the end of this year," he said.
"There is no economic justification for this [reform], but apparently it will somehow lead to an increase in public transport ridership and so on," Kärpuk added. "We'll see, I guess."
Kaupo Kase, director of the Viljandi County Public Transport Center (VÜTK), doesn't believe merging the country's transport centers will solve any actual problems, which is why the county's local government leaders do not support the planned reform.
"In their view, the current public transport system in Viljandi County is well organized, and they don't currently think merging regions or public transport centers is the right step," Kase explained.
"If we want to talk about public transport in terms of improving public transport, then that's going to take a lot of money," he continued. "And in rural areas, people are actually already waiting for more frequent public transport in some areas."
Minister: Local public transport reps must stay
Hartman declined to specify when and how many regional public transport centers will be established, as talks with local governments still lie ahead.
"Even if we consider possibly consolidating public transport centers into bigger regions, we must retain the people who handle and manage these issues on-site," the minister noted.
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Editor: Merili Nael, Aili Vahtla