1. Steps towards free public transport in Tallinn
Taavi Aas
Deputy mayor
26 October 2012

2. Facts about Tallinn Population: 416 539 Area: 159,2 km² Islands: Aegna
Lakes: Harku Lake and Ülemiste Lake
Sea coast: 46 km
Land boarder: 59 km
Tallinn has 40 km² of greenery areas
(parks, forests etc.)

3. Line network of Tallinn public transport
bus km (87%)
tram km (4%)
trolley km (9%)
TOTAL km
bus lines
trolley lines
tram lines

4. Public Transport in Tallinn

5. Tickets and discounts today
Only 33% of public transport operating costs are covered by ticket revenue (approx. 18 M EUR)
Only 8% of passengers pay for the full cost of their ticket. Others have the right to travel for free or they are entitled to some kind of a discount.
There are 17 categories of passengers who have the right to travel for free.
6 categories of passengers have a right for a discounted ticket.
ÜT on toimetuleku alustalasid. Piletite hind ning soodustuste hulk on sõltuvuses elanikkonna sissetulekutest.

6. The main problems still existing in the field of city transportation.
City geographical location
Land use planning and urban sprawl
Difference between central and local government priorities
Lack of city ring roads
Harbour connection cause big heavy vehicle transit
Lack of legislation
City geographical location - it means narrow bottleneck between lake Ülemiste and seaside. It makes transport problems similar to the ones in cities with million citizens. From this narrow area 2/3 of all traffic is through traffic from one city district to another, which causes big traffic problems during peak hour. It is also influencing city centre traffic problems. Today there are reconstruction works in big traffic junction close to the airport which is connecting Southern and Eastern part of Estonia.
Land use planning and urban sprawl. People move to live outside the city, but availability of public transport service in border areas is not as good as expected.
Difference between central and local government priorities. Decisions taken by central government about making investments from EU funds do not meet local needs.
Lack of city ring roads. Today there exists a big ring road (main road) around Tallinn but to disperse city centre traffic small ring roads (closer to Tallinn) are needed around southern and northern parts.
Harbour connection causes big heavy vehicle transit. Harbour is owned by the central government and its development plan does not support city developments, especially taking into account the need to remove goods transport from city centre port.
Lack of legislation. By Estonian law local government has no possibility to apply special taxes for private car users like road toll or congestion charge to affect modal split. 6

7. Changes in traffic frequency
Morning peak ( )
Changes in traffic frequency
Evening peak ( )

8. What does this tendency mean?
Average speed during peak hour decreases 2 km/h annually.
Time spent on travelling is growing.
Duration of peak period will grow longer.
Cars demand more and more space in the city. This means that people will no longer be the users of urban space – it will be cars, either moving or parking.
Living environment will worsen considerably.
Average speed during peak hour decreases 2 km/h annually. This trend has been lasting for several years.
Time spent on travelling is growing. For example, if today it takes 30 minutes to get to work, then in 2 years it will take 45 minutes and in 4 years it will take an hour.
Duration of peak period will grow longer. If the peak period lasts 1,5-2 hours today, it will soon be 3 hours, meaning that it will no longer be possible to adjust your departure time to a quieter time period.
Cars demand more and more space in the city. In addition to large scale road constructions, plenty of new parking spaces are required. This means that people will no longer be the users of urban space – it will be cars, either moving or parking.
Living environment will worsen considerably. Especially due to growing pollution, vibration and noise. 8

9. Public Transport can save the World9

10. Decreasing PT service volume and quality vs increasing usage of cars
Growing number of cars
Congestion
Decreasing PT demand
Decreasing PT speed
Decreasing PT quality
Increasing number of cars
Less PT users
Longer travel time
Higher cost
Smaller ticket revenue
Higher tariffs and need for subsidy 10

11. Measures to promote public transport
City centre bus terminal
Purchasing new rolling stock and renewing infrastructure
Introducing public transport lanes
Introducing public transport priority system
Installing the system of bus lane surveillance cameras
Introducing passenger information system (web based, Smart phone apps, real time information ...)
Introducing new public transport ticketing system
Introducing Park & Ride system
Introducing school bus system
Campaigns 11

12. New ticketing / registration system
Launched 21 September 2012
Objectives:
- Collecting information for PT planning
- Collecting information about movements
- Collecting information about the number of trips made by different types of tickets 12

13. Public transport priority
PT priority corridors today
PT priority area in the future 13

14. P&R system 14

15. Investing into the future
One of the innovations is the Schoolbus project – reducing traffic jams in the city and encouraging pupils to use public transport. 15

16. Free public transport in Tallinn – a brave step towards green capital
Seniks kuni ühistranspordis uute tehnoloogiate rahastamine on üksnes omavalitsuste dotatsioonist ja ühistranspordi kasutajate piletitulust realiseeritav, võime läbi piletihinna mitmekordistumise kaotada hoopis ühistranspordi kasutajaid. Samas ei ole ühistranspordis uute tehnoloogiate kasutuselevõtt ühistranspordi kasutajate arvelt mõistetav, kuna negatiivset keskkonnamõju põhjustab ühistransport võrreldes teiste motoriseeritud transpordiliikidega marginaalselt.
Tasuta sõidu kehtestamise olemus on soodustada ja suurendada ühistranspordiga tehtavate sõitude osakaalu ja vähendada erasõidukitega tehtavate sõitude hulka linnasisestes liikumistes.
Tasuta sõidu võimaldamine üksinda ei motiveeri autosõidust loobumist, see toimib tulemuslikult üksnes kvaliteetse ÜT teenuse pakkumisega ja täiendavate piirangute kehtestamisega erasõidukite liiklusele. 16

17. Advantages of free public transport:
Social aspect: ensuring accessibility to unemployed and people with low-income
Green aspect: shifting modal split from private car to public transport, cleaner living environment, less noise
Due to diminishing traffic load less need to create additional space for traffic.
Additionally: drawing greater attention to sustainable development of public transport at local, national and European level. 17

18. Counterarguments for free public transport:
Diminishing service quality: less rolling stock in traffic, older rolling stock, longer intervals, increasing crime and more vandalism, lot of homeless people spending time in public transport
Overcrowded public transport vehicles
Current public transport user might shift to private car
Free public transport will be provided at the expense of other public services: kindergartens, schools, roads and streets.
Private car users are the ones paying for free public transport. 18

19. Thank You for Your attention!
Fotograaf Vladimir Kušnarjov, TAK fotokollektsioon 19