Estonia to implement free public transport throughout the country

The capital of Estonia, Tallinn, is celebrating five years of free public transport for all citizens, the city has not incurred any losses due to it, and the government now plans to implement free public transport throughout Estonia this year.

Allan Alakula, Head of Tallinn European Union Office, says that the city has not incurred any losses from five years of free public transport, the result of a referendum.

– There’s no doubt that we not only cover the costs, but also come out with a surplus. We earned double as much as we have lost since introducing free public transport. We’re happy to see that so many people are motivated to register as residents in Tallinn to make use of free public transport – Alakula said.

He says that, before introducing free public transport, the city center was crammed with cars and that the air is much cleaner now. He adds that they noticed that people didn’t complain about high parking fees once they offered them a good alternative.

When non-Tallinners leave their cars in a park-and-ride and check in to public transport on the same day, they can’t only use public transport for free, but also won’t be charged the parking fee.

The government plans to implement free public transport in all cities in Estonia, which would make it the first country in the world to do so.

Free transport is either being discussed or has already been implemented in certain cities in Poland, Germany and France.

City of Tallinn

Allan Alakula

free transport in Tallinn

free transport in Estonia

free public transport

income from free public transport