How is Tallinn offering free-fare public transport? | Navigating Urban Transit with George Liu

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Don't forget to turn on subtitles!
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How effective can free public transport be in promoting sustainable travel? Tallinn (Estonia) was the first European capital to offer free public transport, and George Liu visited to investigate. By implementing free-fare public transport for its residents, Tallinn has made a bold attempt to improve accessibility and reduce traffic congestion. But is it truly working? Has it been effective in reducing car use? And does it succeed in providing a frequent and reliable service? Join us in this UMX video as we delve into the real-world impacts of Tallinn's free-fare public transport on urban mobility.
#tallinn #FreePublicTransport #Multimodality #UMX
This episode is the fifth in our series, "Navigating Urban Transit" featuring George Liu. In each episode, George travels to a different European city to discover its public transit system and its unique characteristics. Stay tuned to find out where he will go next!
ERRATUM: the b-roll used at 06:23 was shot in Helsinki, not Tallinn!
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This video was shot in August 2023. Many thanks to George Liu and Jedwin Mok for their tremendous work on this video!
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Writing: Jedwin Mok, Carrie Jia
Video: Jedwin Mok
Editing: Jedwin Mok
Production: Malaurie Chokoualé, Jana Cotillas, Jedwin Mok
Executive Production: Martin Vendel and Gautam Rao
Graphic and thumbnail design: FAVO Studio
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Urban Mobility Explained is powered by EIT Urban Mobility, a European initiative to create liveable urban spaces! This project is co-funded by the European Union. Learn more about EIT Urban Mobility: www.eiturbanmo...

[@matr00n]

Tallinn resident here. Thank you for the insightful video. For years I've been in proposition for the free public transport and in theory, I still am. The main problem in my opinion is the inefficiency of the public transport network in Tallinn. It is a relatively small city compared to most European capitals yet it takes ages to reach your destination by public transport. New lines are rarely opened and the intervals between buses and trolleybuses remain unreasonably large. For example: a 3 km journey from my home to work would take me 8 minutes by car but takes nearly 30 minutes by bus/trolleybus. I don't drive so I've opted for riding a bike during the warmer months (the lack of safe bike lanes in Tallinn is another can of worms). The car lobby is also strong and the new vice mayor in charge of transportation is also very much against improving infrastructure for car alternatives. The free public transport helped me a lot when I was financially struggling. However now that I've got the means I don't mind paying as long as it means the actual transport network is being upgraded by having more frequent intervals between buses, more and faster trams and more efficient connections between different bus lines

[@mardus_ee]

The intervals for the transport lines of major arteries are frequent. OTOH, odd bus lines that may take to the edges of the city and beyond, have less frequent schedules.

[@ArdgalAlkeides]

"Ages"? It took me about 1h 15-30min on average to get to my workplace Helsinki city center from where I lived in Finland by public transport, a car would've taken 20min. The people in Tallinn do not know what "ages" means and really it has been phenomenally good for me when I've used it. If you think bikes are convenient for you, by all means, you should prefer biking, it's more healthy for you and our planet.

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

Thanks a lot for watching and for sharing your thoughts!

[@ragnarlaine4065]

Tallinn, like many other Estonian cities, suffers from a misguided focus on rapid development over community well-being. This "get-ahead-at-any-cost" mentality is at odds with the Nordic model of prioritizing quality of life and social cohesion. As a result, essential infrastructure like *efficient* public transport, *safe* cycling paths, and well-maintained public spaces are often overlooked or underfunded. Rather than offering free public transportation, which can mask underlying economic disparities, the government should prioritize creating jobs and increasing incomes. This would enable more people to afford public transport fares and stimulate the private sector. By investing in a thriving economy and supporting businesses, the government can indirectly improve the quality of life for all citizens

[@mardus_ee]

@@ragnarlaine4065 Compared to the rest of the world, public transport in Tallinn is very efficient, and its being free has been a life-saver to many, while making our society more equitable and less unequal. It is not the purpose of the government to create jobs, as make-work programmes are costly and inefficient. The government is not supposed to be the main employer. Private companies create jobs. Yet not all employers pay such good salaries, that their employees could realistically afford city transport fares without having to skimp on food and basics in their own household. Free transport means, that jobless people can search for work and not lose money at it. Free transport means, that people with low-paying jobs will save a lot of their own money that would otherwise have gone for the payment of very expensive fares. Do keep in mind, that transport fares are expensive to anyone not registered in Tallinn.

[@RetrOgre]

Tallinn resident here. The video is 100% true. I would also add, that in the same time, Tallinn has increased the investments in the roads for individual cars. More lanes, fast intersections for cars and so on. They ignored the plans for building cycling networks, they ignored the recommendatsions from the universities and specialists.

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

Thanks for sharing your insight!

[@Hk7762Tube]

@@urbanmobilityexplained "Tallinn has increased the investments in the roads for individual cars." Are you mentally challenged? They are removing lanes from existing roads, expanding Tram routes, adding more cyclists lanes that cyclists don't give a f*** about.

[@kamikazeland]

False statement: "Tallinn has increased the investments in the roads for individual cars." Lines what were meant for cars, half of them removed. Not temporarily but also during winter time, when there is 0 ciclists, half of the road is for ciclers, this blocks normal traffic for all users! "Universities and specialists" - did you mean those where decisions are beneficial only for construction companies and persons, who directly have shares on those and "specialist" Pärtel Peeter Pere - a self-proclaimed urban planner who urges everybody to buy box wheelers but himself driving Toyota Land Cruiser?

[@ragnarlaine4065]

But why there is "0 cyclists" in winter in Estonia? Because of absence of proper cycling infrastructure-which requires safe, separated bike lanes, good lighting, snow removal (may be automatized by snow-melting system), and ample parking. Treating cyclists as full-fledged traffic participants encourages infrastructure improvements, such as bike lanes and dedicated traffic signals, which enhance safety for all road users. Proper cyclist infrastructure in Tallinn, including snow-melting system, can be also a tourist magnet beside the fact that everyone will be able safely to go by bike everywhere everytime-including night in winter. You can see what is a good cyclist infrastructure in Danemark or Netherlands

[@Rickcarleson2152]

​@@ragnarlaine4065the automatic snow melting system is very expensive.

[@drdewott9154]

This is really a sorely needed video. In Denmark where I'm from, we commonly see proposals and demands from both politicians and the public for free public transit, but cases like Tallinn, Luxembourg, and Malta show why its not the best idea. Its just that we in Denmark are at the exact opposite end of the spectrum, with fares so high, around twice the EU average, that they're discouraging people from taking transit, especially in conjunction with our complicated fare systems and unintuitive monthly passes. The best thing to do with fare policy is really finding the equilibrium, where you're able to attract the most riders comparative to expense. In Odense Denmark, a special trial with cheaper fares was introduced in 2023 to encourage people to use the city's buses and new light rail line. Despite politicians expecting this to come at a loss, it has come with several millions of kroner in extra revenue, and a ridership increase that if I recall correctly is over 20%. All from lowering single fares from 26 DKK to 10 DKK for those 25 and below, and 15 DKK for those 26 and above. Though many other parts of Denmark has to a lesser or greater extent worked with making buses free, but in most cases its barely a benefit to passengers if the bus only runs 6 times a day at best, as is the case with most such services. The only real big exception being the island of Ærø which has a regional bus line once every hour from 5am till 9pm. An already really good service level for a place so rural. In the past 9 years after making it free to ride, ridership on that bus increased by 400% from 50.000 annual passengers to 250.000. As for the rest of the country though... politicians are more focused on micromanaging public economics for maximum efficiency, further strained by some frankly outrageous financial laws which are among the tightest in all of the EU, which limits how much local and regional governments especially are allowed to spend, which limits their ability to make the short term capital injections needed to get a reduced fare system into place.

[@etbadaboum]

A kind of Laffer Curve for transit cost!

[@Taladar2003]

It would be interesting to have a comparison of investment in new transit infrastructure and new car infrastructure in the same decade. It seems to me that that big 3 lane road in the video is still quite new too while the transit looks like it hasn't seen much investment in much more than the ten years it has been free.

[@jacktattersall9457]

Good point. It looks like the haven't even completely moved towards modern low-floor LRVs with a large number of high floor (Tatras I want to say) still visible in the video.

[@intervrt]

@@jacktattersall9457 TBF a lot of good transit cities haven't. Still not an excuse, however new low floor trams are coming in and being tested right now

[@bentowali]

That's one of the problems I feel like that is plaguing tallinn too, as a resident the new infrastructure is still really car friendy and i just don't get it because if they're gonna push public transit then actually reflect that in the infrastructure

[@intervrt]

@@bentowali that's why i like living near Tartu, there seems to be a consistent and concerted effort of making places more safe, cycleable and walkable. Although there's less space between buildings to give buses their own space so it's a challenge.

[@Rebasepoiss]

@@jacktattersall9457 Even Zürich has high-floor trams in use...

[@mardus_ee]

I'm from Tallinn. Comment update: I checked the Tallinn homepage, and free transport on trains within Tallinn city limits is still valid. Whereas I never considered that as free. It still seems like a kludge to validate the free part. The trains are operated not by the city, but by Elron, a state operator. Some of the buses in the video are not operated by the city, as they have different livery. Free transport in general has helped me, and it's even saved my life, when I was financially struggling.

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

Thank you for sharing this insight!

[@timectrl]

As someone who is half Estonian and who visits family every summer, you really hit the mark here. Even though the transit is far from perfect, it gets the job done and you can always fall back on it. I really enjoyed the video!

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

@@timectrl thanks a lot for watching! 🙏🏾

[@mikaelhugg1112]

As a Tallinn resident (been living here 4 years now) I LOVE their free transit. I have a car as well and I drive it because I like to drive and I like my car, but often times if I’m going to my city center office, I take the buss because it is more convinient and I don’t have to care about parking. But, when I’m travelling with friends, we always choose my car because that is way more convinient and more private. I hope Tallinn would keep its free transit, as it is one of those perks that really make you appreciate the city’s pro-resident approach and use of my tax money

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

Thank you for sharing your experience!

[@sirius4k]

Tallinn's public transportation has seen steady upgrades throughout the last several years. News buses, trams, and trolleys. The transit station timetables show arrival times underlined as transport with low clearance for easy access. I remember where about 10-20% of the times the transport was easily accessible, I was surprised a few days ago that it's 100% now. They have phased out the old buses. New all-electric buses have been introduced to the fleet as well, in the past few months, I think. Some years ago we got newer more modern trams and I saw a video a few days ago about new trams getting into service again, haven't seen them myself yet. About 1-2 years ago, we got new Solaris trolleys with batteries that don't need to be connected all the time. We have some very tight turns in the city where the "horns" get pulled off quite frequently and it's super annoying. In general, I don't have any issues with the transportation options we have. I don't like the fact that the station timetables are more an estimation than an actual timetable when the transportation arrives. So, reliability is a big issue. I think it's less of a problem with trolleys and trams, but it can also be that I think that way because I use those less. I say public transport has to remain free! I'm willing to pay taxes for it.

[@kalle911]

_"I remember where about 10-20% of the times the transport was easily accessible, I was surprised a few days ago that it's 100% now" _ - low floor trams? they forgot to build the appropriate platforms for them and we still have KT4-s around.

[@sirius4k]

@@kalle911 Yes, we have some old and some novelty trams around, but the buses are way better than they were 10 years ago and trolleys improved as well in the past couple of years. Also, what platforms? I haven't seen anyone struggle getting into the modern trams. In and around the city center anyway.

[@kalle911]

@@sirius4k viru, Vabaduse väljak, hobujaama, paberi, Keskturg, jne. I do mean for handicapped persons.

[@minnametsa7942]

There is another problem with the free public transport in Tallinn. Many people who work in Tallinn, don't live there, but live in areas around Tallinn or further out. They don't get free transport and even if they would declare themselves a resident of Tallinn, the regional buses to get to Tallinn aren't free and are rather expensive. So for them, car is still the best option in terms of speed and cost. The free transport is still a good thing to have and very helpful for low income houses, just wish they would think a bit more about people who live outside of Tallinn.

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

Thanks for your comment!

[@ragnarlaine4065]

The term 'Suur-Tallinn' or 'Greater Tallinn' would be more appropriate to reflect the metropolitan area's interconnectedness. The lack of cooperation among the municipalities within region of Greater Tallinn highlights the outdated nature of Tallinn's administrative and political structure. In contrast, cities like Helsinki and Stockholm have successfully implemented regional governance models that foster collaboration and shared services, leading to more efficient and effective urban development

[@herpderp7114]

There's that, but public transport service to lots of areas where people actually live and work is garbage also, specially when you work just outside of the city and also live just outside of the city on the other end like me. Not only is public transport service expensive, but there isn't even any convenient public transport that operates between where I work and where I live. If I took public transport, it would take between 1 to 2 hours whereas with a car it takes 30 minutes and takes me through Tallinn. The time saved on the trip from using a car is insane. I don't think the public transport system is very well set up in terms of destinations and routes unless your destination and origin are very conveniently placed right in the city center to begin with where most of the public transport operates.

[@NorroTaku]

free-fare public transport is a subsidy directly to the most vulnerable instead of the usual tax cuts for the rich

[@kalle911]

Before it became free for all it was already free of charge for old age pensioners and handicapped persons.

[@FountainChannel]

"people still choose to drive because its the fastest and most convenient option" is exactly why I think it's time for them to take a page out of the Helsinki book and invest in a simple metro line. Just one line that connects the big spots along the coast and then build out a bus system from there. If its faster, people will drop their cars. A good bit of development around Helsinki's metro stops came after the stops were constructed too rather than before with the exception of the 3 main center city stops, so using this method Tallin can consolidate their growth and therefore the percentage of people living closer to the center will rise as well. Of course this would be funded likely with fares but with the tradeoff of a faster program I believe the residents would likely value it in the end.

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

[@KohaAlbert]

Tallinn is old One of the oldest cities in the region in fact. That (historical and archeological values) combined with the layout, geography and geology place considerable obstructions for developments of the kind.

[@realhawaii5o]

Tallinn resident here. I honestly love the public transport system. Probably because the stop 10m from my house is super well served. The city has been cutting back services like the Trolleybus for years and the system has suffered a bit. That being said, they just U turned on cancelling trolleybuses and are going to invest into new trolleybuses. They are also creating a new tram line (that's completely useless)... I wish they would connect Lasnamäe with a Tram through Peterburi / Laagna tee that have more than enough space for it.

[@ragnarlaine4065]

A new tram line in Tallinn? I think it is yet another junction and balloon loop. You should see Jokeri tram project in Helsinki to understand what means to create a new tram line. IMHO new tram line in Tallinn should be modern *fast* bi-directional second-generation light-rail 1435mm tram/train with *accessible* platforms

[@realhawaii5o]

@@ragnarlaine4065 Yes. That's the point. It's a joke what they are doing in Tallinn 🥲

[@brendanjames8234]

1:30 Love getting a glimpse of Oodi but that’s in Helsinki, not Tallinn!

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

Thanks for spotting this!

[@phil_the_explorer3068]

Tallinn resident here. For the last 2 summers, all trams have been stopped or cut due to construction works. And the tram doesn't go to the airport anymore for 2.5 years. Buses get stuck in car traffic, and they are infrequent. Tallinn is full of urban freeways and parking lots. Parking also in most areas is free of charge, or very cheap. Cycling infrastructure is mostly unusable. Some tram stops don't even have platforms and you have to walk in the middle of a 6-lane-road 😭

[@avamander.]

That tram won't be going to the airport for two and a half more years. Kinda shows where the priorities are.

[@absolutezippo7542]

Raising car parking price may help with reducing car use then But won't make public transport inherently more appealing or convenient

[@szymex22]

In most places transit is already subsidised and a yearly pass is not a major expense. If someone can afford a car this small expense for transit won’t be a major consideration. Thus free transit won’t reduce car usage. And we have to remember nothing is free, it is paid through taxes.

[@mratp123]

This was an excellent educational video. Although I don't agree with losing the fare-free system I do think that this helped me to understand the pluses ans minuses of our system. I was born and currently reside in Tallinn, but I also travel out of Tallinn quite frequently, I've never really expected to not pay on these services, but the thing with the green card is you never really notice wether you pay unless you know you have to. I think Estonia should have fares on public transport, but Tallinn shouldn't due to voters and the companies preferring so. I just also have to say how sad I was when you didn't mention our trolleybuses in the intro. They are much more consideres as public transport here in Tallinn than trains are. As you said in the video, we lack regional" train services - But I'd say Estonia is so small that everything is regional😂 the green card just adds a free zone for Tallinn's residents:) and I'd say all the traffic to the West of Tallinn is Regional and all traffic to East js InterCity. That's just the main tran destinations that make me have this easy to explain (to tourists) opinion. Thank you though, - Admin of @tallinn_trams instagram page

[@kirjoittajajoni]

Tallinn trams is one of the greatest instagram pages I know. Huge fan as a fellow resident of Tallinn ❤

[@TheFlyingMooseCA]

Great deep dive and a very helpful example in the discussion of better transit - and love the focus on solutions towards the end. Also the pooling of active riders and transit riders is something I've noticed in Toronto too among my friends, especially with the recent shutdown of every street in downtown 🤡

[@bergonius]

The ending song is soooo good

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

Agreed! It is called Black Hole by Tommy Ljungberg. The editor of this video, Jedwin Mok, found it on Epidemic Sound and wanted to include it in the video 😊

[@elisterr]

Lets look at it from a macro scale. 1) Sub-urbanization. Estonians tend to move to the so called "golden circle" around the city, 15-25min driving distance from the city centre into new suburban developments, to modern homes. These locations grow rapidly and their citizens all work inside Tallinn and choose to ride cars. 2) Ridesharing mobility. What also has increased? The ammount of trips made with e-scooters, rental cars and taxis. Mainly the service provider being the local Estonian BOLT. As you stated in the video, more convenient is better than free. So takinga 8min ride on the electric scooter for 3-4€ is way way way more convenient than riding 30min in one or two public transit vechicles. The same goes for rental cars (just use the phone app to take the car parked on the street) and taxis. This is the most evolved transit system in this century. 3) Geographics. The big fault in Tallinn is its geography. Estonians call it the bow tie layout where the city centre is a small congested are in the middle and the city actually speads out on either side of it. But taking a ride from one side to the other always has to go trough the city centre. And thus, any ride in any other direction means that you first have to take a ride to the centre and then change transit. There is no inner city circular road network. 4) Price. What the local government voters also tend to not realize is how was the modernization of the public transit funded. Remember carbon limitations? The trams and most of the buses, as well as most of the regional buses are not funded by the taxes but by selling our Carbon permits to Spain. Now, 10 years later, these buses are in a need of more expensive maintenance or replacements and when we no longer have carbon permits to sell and the city does not have a viable extra income from the tickets, the service is too expensive to maintain. (We also have free higher education. But just like in central europe (where it was free in the past) it stagnates the development of the education. So we could make the same video about this aswell. "There are no free things int the world" is true and always will be.)

[@ragnarlaine4065]

Who are those Estonians? 1. Labeling certain areas of the city as "golden" creates an unfair standard. It implies that basic amenities and quality of life should be considered luxuries rather than necessities. Instead of "golden," we should aim for a balanced development across the entire metropolitan area, similar to Greater Helsinki or Stockholm. Unfortunately, Greater Tallinn lacks essential infrastructure like efficient fast bi-directional light rail and safe bike paths, leading to increased car dependency. 2. Without reliable cycling infrastructure, ridesharing services also suffer. The focus on the city center (nowadays we should focus on Greater Tallinn) limits accessibility and usability. Insufficient snow removal and lack of snow-melting systems further exacerbate these problems. 3. Tallinn suffers from over-centralization, with a disproportionate concentration of businesses and jobs in the city center. A more balanced approach would distribute economic activity throughout the metropolitan area. IKEA's decision to locate a store outside the city center is a positive example of this. To improve quality of life, businesses should consider locating evenly in Greater Tallinn-Nömme, Peetri, Tänassilma, Kakumäe, Pirita, or Harku-all good for business. 4. The idea that everything should be cheap is misleading. Fair wages and strong labor unions are essential for a healthy economy. Relying on cheap labor, often from immigrant workers, is unsustainable and unfair. I think all work places should be unionized. Strong trade unions are essential to counterbalance corporate power and ensure fair compensation for employees. By advocating for higher wages and better working conditions, unions contribute to a more equitable society and a stronger economy

[@alps1032]

Tallinn resident here. A very good and insightful video. As someone pointed out in the comments, it takes ages to reach different parts of the city by public transport. Trains are helping a lot but they can't go everywhere. I think that Tallinn absolutely needs a couple metro lines because trips from let's say Nõmme to Rocca al Mare take about 50minutes to an hour, the same as to riding to the city center which is wild. We need more bus lines in suburbs (Pääsküla, Nõmme, Laagri, Tiskre and so on) and they need to be more frequent. Now I absolutely support free public transport and would be super disappointed if we had to pay for public transport. I also want to see improvement to the network, gain in frequency of especially buses and trolleybuses and see more lines in suburbs as pointed out before. A metro would be well appreciated but I don't see that happening anytime soon. With all this said, I want to see improvements to our transit network, be it free or not.

[@alps1032]

Another thing I want to add is that there's a ton of roadworks everywhere in Tallinn and they take too long to complete. They are building the new tram line near the city center, repairing older roads that are key for smooth traffic in the suburbs. It's all too much, they need to slow down because there are too many traffic jams and too many road closures.

[@ragnarlaine4065]

@@alps1032 giving people direct financial support for transportation is a more efficient and flexible solution than providing free public transport

[@ragnarlaine4065]

@@alps1032 There is no "free" transport in Tallinn-it is a paid transport. Introducing "free" public transport is another example of the government taking over responsibilities that the private sector has successfully managed. This harm or even eliminate private businesses in this field. If the problem is that Estonians spend too much on transportation, instead of implementing "free" buses, it would be more sensible to distribute the entire public transport subsidy directly to individuals. Each person could then use this money as they see fit, whether it's for fuel, ride-sharing services, taxis, buses, or trains

[@SirKenchalot]

Once people are employed, the cost of commuting should be fairly small so reducing it to 0 isn't that big of a deal, unless you can force people to compare costs of driving and transit but if they never try transit, they'll never know. Free travel for children/elderly/unemployed should probably be considered (and applies in London) but if you're earning a good wage,, will a couple of euros or dollars a day sway your decision?

[@Marcos-Silva]

Just a little correction about this video, Luxembourg City does not have poor transit service. You can go anywhere in the city by bus with high frequency service. There is also a tram line with 22 stops including 8 multimodal exchange hubs. Now if you had said Luxembourg as a country, sure, the service has and still is quite poor for a few areas but the city has really good service.

[@photoo848]

One thing that's kinda visible in this video but not really highlighted: Tallinn has a lot of 3-lane roads (both ways for a total of 6) crisscrossing its city. At times it feels like being on a highway (albeit with the occasional stoplight) but you're deep in the city. It's a very weird thing and I wished the space was put to a better use.

[@szymex22]

Every bigger city in Europe has them

[@photoo848]

@@szymex22 I've been in Paris, Amsterdam, London and some other capitals. I cannot remember seeing 6 lane streets the way Tallinn has them. Maybe some 2x2 artery roads or a ring road around the city but Tallinn has several of them. You could fit a row of houses down the middle and still have space leftover for traffic

[@timothypsina]

​@@photoo848 Tallinn's city layout makes it difficult to travel between big districts without passing the city center, so if one day all six lane roads transfer into 2 lane roads it will make traffic very slow. And basically there are 0.6 cars per person in Estonia, so it's like a little USA at that point

[@kallelaur1762]

I'll tell you what my beef is with our public transport. First of all the tram network, which got it's first extension since 1961 in 2017(ish): to the airport. Paid for with Rail Baltica funds. That's fine, what else are we supposed to use EU funds for, it connected a major office park and benefits us greatly. Because we've lacked money otherwise to extend the network. A few years back we started another extension, to connect the harbour to the city center (also paid by the EU). So there's now a new track, for the most part between whole 0 and 300 meters away from the previously existing one, making all sorts of tight turns, in order to be as slow as possible. Conveniently passing in between two shopping malls that are being built. As opposed to a street with high density housing that lacks any public transport. Also, I'll eat my hat if they'll right away after completion of the project give trams a green light priority across those six lanes of car traffic. Which leads me to the third point: the trams are slow. Not for lack of capability on their part, but because between stops it ends up at red lights all the time. Those 0 and 2 car drivers that need to make a right-hand turn? They go first. There's a street here with a tram track next to a lane for car traffic, but in past 10 years the width of an average car has increased. So every time there's a SUV and/or an inconsiderate driver in it's own lane the tram has to wait after it on it's own tracks. See here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oGOxdmyQrdyKjLM The fourth issue - it doesn't go beyond city limits. The fifth issue - development of public transit doesn't keep up with real estate developments. Lack of competence or lack of funds? I suspect both. And what ever development happens is an extension of an already existing bus line. One can not simply keep increasing the length of a bus line because the quality of service goes down as the distance increases, because of travel times that can't compete with cars. What's not helping is adding all sorts of twists and turns to it to cover EVERYTHING. One just has to look up line nr 24 on the route planner website. There's plenty more though, that isn't the fault of Tallinn's public transport or the people running it. For example, our railways are 'grandfathered' into the infrastructure. I say this because even with new developments among railways they don't create new train stations. Railways are owned by the state, they don't really care. The place I work at is a major employer, across the road from a railway, and the railway company is going to build a new depot there. including their own private train stop for people to get to work. Not for us non-railway plebs though. In 10 years this place will be entirely built-up with industrial buildings, but can't have any trains service the area for employees to get to work. But at the same time those train stops with two nearby summer cottages and a population of 40 need to have a train stop. :D (we run our own buses but typically people drive to work)

[@joseph4445]

As a Tallinn resident who has constantly used busses my entire life, every day. The last time I saw a bus ticket control in Tallinn was in 2006. So the transit, for all intents and purposes, is free because it lacks reinforcement. Probably because stopping some buslines frequently would fuck up everyone's schedule, which would lead to less people using transit.

[@SisterSunny]

woah, I never would've expected an actual net carbon increase, that's wild

[@pizzajona]

Even if transit service is very good, there’s always something that extra money from fares could be used for, whether infrastructure (like metro/regional rail as you hinted at), other social services, or just lowered taxes.

[@Calm.Relaxing]

The metropolitan of lisbon its free for students, its becoming more comon now for free public transport and im here for it!

[@PawanSeshadri]

Incredible!

[@danielevillegas]

Great video! Thanks for sharing

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

Thanks a lot for watching!

[@marsaachadiantyarpratama4655]

Very informative video! It would be even better to have a couple of essential maps (not too many), for example, one for the catchment area of public transport and another superimposed with population data.

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

Thank you so much for your constructive feedback, it helps us rethink and improve our videos! ☺

[@martinkoitmae6655]

Tallinn is just that amazing😎

[@ajmeipalu1051]

Free transit has definitely lowered my car usage but if I have to get a tram, then a bus and another bus that takes 45mins, I still get in my car and arrive in 15 mins.

[@Michaelgoestofrance]

It could be interesting to see how this might work in my home city of Lyon, France. For a medium-sized city it has an excellent transit network that just keeps on growing. Fares are highish but the system delivers. I wonder if making the system free would result in lowered investment. I like the idea but during rush hours, the metro is beyond capacity as it is. If the system were to be free and more riders attracted, there would really have to be quite significant investment to cope with the higher ridership. Interesting topic!

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! We’ll be making more videos about free-fare public transit soon. It is - indeed - a very interesting topic with lots to cover, and we plan to explore its benefits, challenges, and how it impacts communities.

[@IchOdaNich]

Let me guess commuters, that lived outside of tallin didn't qualify for fare free transit therefore choosing to drive into the city

[@mardus_ee]

Even if they registered as residents of the city, they'd still need to use non-free / maybe expensive regional transport to get to the city proper, where thee free city transit actually runs. That's why the people outside Tallinn prefer using cars.

[@kalle911]

Unless their own municipality pays for their free public transit (in some cases or with some modes of transport they do), they end up paying twice as much. Poor service isn't helping things either: for me it'd be 16 minutes by car or 90 by public transit from where a colleague of mine lives.

[@IsM1ku]

A lot of people who live outside where the buses do still operate are registered as living in the city, this is the case with my grandma but also many others

[@Mees_]

When it's made so you have to pay, it promotes car usage and makes Tallinn more car-centric in my opinion

[@phil_the_explorer3068]

Tallinn resident here. The only purpose of making public transport free from the political party was to get more votes. They don't want to decrease the nr of cars, quite the opposite.

[@sterminous1978]

There also are people who are registed in Tallinn only to get free transit and from their pay Tallinn get’s the tax money. And when that free transit is taken away, they may register in their home town, so the tax money goes to their home town. I myself would register back to Tartu the moment I lose my free transit. It’s the same for people who live close to Tallinn and use transit to commute to work. In total Tallinn may end up losing usuable money after ending free transit, yes the transit system does take it’s share of tax money, but because of that more people are registed in Tallinn and pay more taxes to Tallinn. It’s a more complicated issue and the solutsion is not as easy as just cutting of free transit. It may end up biting Tallinn in the butt.

[@danielmalinen6337]

Kind of a good idea, but I doubt its profitablity in the long run. As a Finn, I would say that Tallinn's free public transport can be an economically unprofitable experiment for two significant reasons; First, it increases public expenses, which the states should constantly try to reduce, and secondly, it reduces the potential income that the states would need more of. Many of the public services are already often undermonetized in different countries anyway. And so that the EU country doesn't end up in the observation category among the bad countries, states need and must follow strict economic discipline, avoid loans and run the state as if it were a real company.

[@ArdgalAlkeides]

There's a couple of key issues missing here: 1) "free fares" are most important to the people EVERYONE forget exist - poor people, maybe people who just got their new job, or for some reason otherwise have very low income .. it is simply not right to exclude them from the rest of society because they cannot afford even a modestly priced ticket and car-brained people want to prioritize their own needs 2) free public transport alone of course does not encourage everyone to get rid of their cars, the prioritization of cars must also be put to an end - there needs to be significantly more focus on restricting the use of cars in cities, more expensive parking, access restricted to only necessary car traffic etc. 3) there should ALSO be much more focus put on walkability in general, as well as biking .. Tallinn has been doing pretty poorly in these areas, heavily prioritizing random politicians wanting to drive their kids to their hobbies as fast as possible instead

[@yaush_]

The obvious problem seems to be that people who are driving are not the people who benefit from free transit. If someone is willing to spend tens of thousands of euros on a car plus fuel, maintenance, and insurance, they could care less wether or not they pay a couple euros for a trip or zero. Basically it doesn’t matter how cheap public transit is, even if it is free they still want to drive. I know there are very smart people who work in Tallinn on the transit network, but I don’t know if they considered this issue enough.

[@phil_the_explorer3068]

Tallinn resident here. Trains are not included in the free fare, nor buses that go outside of Tallinn.

[@mr.priman]

To encourage ridership, they can provide bonus system, if you make at least 2 trips per day every work day, so smrh like 40 trips monthly, you don’t need to pay next month

[@paxundpeace9970]

Key has to be elevated investment into the transit system. Only if economic mobility and growth is strong then it will work.

[@omrigall]

beautiful city

[@Robin-ph1ss]

I live around 30 min outside tallinn. Busses come every 2 hours. It is simply not worth the wait and hassle to to my destination in time

[@Sivah_Akash]

What's the name of the song at the end?

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

The song is called Black Hole by Tommy Ljungberg!

[@maksimts]

The only problem is that the Tallinn's transport is so slow.

[@rojirrim7298]

Very insightful video! Kinda shows how if we want to promote public transit we need to make cars a less convenient option, maybe by saving some funding from roads and placing it into improved transit. A few comments that I think deserve being made In the video you talk about the "collapse" of the Soviet Union. That's an outdated term, since it doesn't really represent the process of dissolution of the USSR. It was dissolved from the government, it didn't "collapse" in any way. The "suburban" blocks of the Soviet Union enjoyed good access to transit, since cars weren't an extremely common commodity and not the preferred Soviet means of transportation. Additionally, a lot of people had access to housing through their work unions, which meant that work was usually closer to the homes of people (unions would obviously provide housing near the workplace). The process of transition to capitalism, the liberalization of the housing markets (and the consequent price increases), make it harder on average for people to live within walkable/cyclable distance of work. Finally, I want to comment on the democratic aspect of it. We see that 90% of residents of Tallinn support free transit, so why would the authorities remove it or reduce it?? Sure, it might not have a great impact on car usage, but if it reduces inequality and people are overwhelmingly in favour, what's the point of phasing it out and framing it as a failed experiment?

[@misateki]

It's not country-wide. Never will be

[@larserikle]

I feel that most problems are in the way new roads are built. Everything is still car-centric, and thus, drivers dint see a reason to switch to public transport. Lessening the available lanes, decreasing driving speed (especially via narrower lanes and turns and not straight roads), and giving busses their own fast lane could help. There's also a possibility that new bike lanes attract people who already ride public transport and not car drivers. But those roads aren't well thought out (again, car lanes are prioritised over bike lanes and their full safety) and don't attract people. If city planners changed some of their "planning logic", I do believe cars would become less attractive for some.

[@nose10620]

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@centredoorplugsthornton4112]

How about visitors to Tallinn? They ride free?

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

Visitors who are not registered as residents of Tallinn still need to pay standard fares!

[@Thelumi007]

When talking about Tallinn, why show a Finnish library Oodi? At 1:30 Otherwise nice video/

[@krizz0rr]

Tax money - it is not free.

[@photoo848]

Estonia is a beautiful country and I don't understand why it's 4 largest cities aren't connected via high-speed rail. You could have Tallinn-Tartu in half an hour but instead you have to spend 4 times as long in a car

[@szymex22]

Because of small population of Estonia. But at least you will have rail Baltica

[@photoo848]

@@szymex22 what small population? Connecting the 4 biggest cities by rail has over a million people see their intercity journeys slashed from hours down to 30 minutes The savings in time (and road maintenance budget) would be enormous (without bringing in the boon to the environment that you get with electric rail)

[@szymex22]

@@photoo848 I mean Estonia has only 1,35 milion population, that’s very low for high speeds

[@photoo848]

@@szymex22 what is the population you need for decent rail connections? And don't forget that Estonia is rather small so this could be extended to include the Baltics as a whole

[@szymex22]

@@photoo848 baltics will already have high speed rail, that’s what rail baltica is. 1 milion combined population of the cities on the line is the bare minimum to have high speed rail. Of course it has to be analysed case by case but Estonia with 1,35 million population is definitely too small for more than rail baltica. As far as I see you already have decent rail connection between Tallinn and Tartu - taking the same amount of time as a car, according to Google maps.

[@photoo848]

It's interesting that public transport paid by taxes is such a rare thing when private transport is fully funded by taxes. For some reason rail & bus need to make a profit yet roads don't need to.

[@szymex22]

Not really, road infrastructure is paid by taxes but the vehicles themselves are paid by drivers and there’s also fuel tax going into it. Public transport needs vehicles, drivers and infra. It’s not expected to make a profit, but rather for some of the expenses to be recovered. It’s almost always paid by taxes for the most part and that’s ok

[@ttopero]

This is why we need to separate politics from infrastructure. Capital L Liberals typically will try to include everyone under the subsidy umbrella to the peril of the system while conservatives & capitalists focus on the overwhelming majority of undisputed funding on transportation projects on roads & highways for personal, private vehicles. They can’t see that the money equation for roads doesn’t produce as much GDP as transit allows (because private costs add to the GDP) than roads & highways produce in the same way, just as liberals can’t see that many people will pay a fair amount for a good common service while supporting those of less means to pay less or none-it’s not all or nothing!

[@johnveerkamp1501]

de belastingbetaler moet het op brengen ,niks is voor niks !!!!

[@TheDanirabien]

Tallinn resident here, free public transport is actually a great source and i would onlynuse a car to go out of the city. The claims of slowness sound weird when i have lived in olaces where traffic jams can consume up to 2 or 3 hours of your life daily. But i do find weird the argument about the goals... If we were to measur by that simplistic goal, shouldn't we then abolish the politicians who have continuously failed at their jobs? The professors whl graduated subpar students? What is the counterfactual? What causes the car increase? I expected way more from someone who presents as a professor. The argument presented here is shallow and frustrating.

[@rist98]

Starts off with false info right away. "all tallinn residents get this green card for free". Dude. The card costs 1€. :D Anyway, I think this video didn't really go deep enough. But I guess I've got a desire for deeper analisys because Im a local. I think there are interesting facts to look at regarding this. I would wonder if how much there are generational gaps between people using public transport vs using cars. My suspicion is quite hugely that younger people use way more public transport, than the older ppl. Like, ppl who are used to using public transport, won't be interested in switching to using a car, if they can manage well enough with public transport. But my sis for example, uses a car, because it is practically impossible for her to get to work and back in a reasonable enough time. The public transport has its shortcomings. I myself take the bus to work. But I have to walk 10 mins to the bus station, as the area where I live, hasn't been designed for bus usage. Its a suburb built before the 2008 RE crash, and the local govt definitely didn't organize for roads to be planned in a way where buses made sense. So, they don't really come near my home. Which means my commute is far longer than it should be. I have used an e-scooter to get to work and back, and I clearly win even though e-scooters are limited to a speed of 25km/h. On avg it would take me 40-50 mins to get to work with buses, and 30mins(or even a bit less) with e-scooter. Shame I can't ride my e-scooter during winter. (bike roads aren't kept clean, and it would be folly to assume they ever will be, esp cos I live in the suburb. So, that has been my anecdotal experience.

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

Thanks for sharing your experience!

[@bigobrother123]

The issue with Tallinn is that the population density is low in many parts of it. This looks to be chaning as more city centre areas are built with new apartment complexes, but until we are forbidden to speed in the middle of the city with cars, this does not change. I would suggest to block private transportation (other than taxi and business service) to city centre, similar like it is to the old town for the past 20y.

[@countdown4100]

Buses/trams can never compete with cars in terms of comfort, no matter how on-time they are. That leads to the simple fact that anybody who can afford to use a car, will use a car, end of story. Still, free public transport directly helps those who are the most in need in a society. As far as socialism is concerned, its an unequivocal win and there's nothing wrong with that.

[@thedamnedatheist]

Put tolls on cars, increase taxes on cars & petrol. Let's face it, cars have always been subsidised by taxes, it's time they paid more for the convenience.