Andrus Nilisk, CEO of the North Estonia Public Transport Center, said on the "Vikerhommik" radio show that when the proposal to change the school start time first came up, the transport center ran calculations showing that the change would require roughly an additional €1 million in funding.

"In a situation where public transport is already facing a €50 million shortfall, I really can't say whether that money will be found or not," Nilisk admitted. He added that he personally couldn't imagine how the system is supposed to function, especially given that a ministry representative has already said there's no money for it.

"To give a different kind of example: if a bus has a failing wheel bearing and starts making a noise, and the driver simply turns up the radio — does that fix the problem?" said Nilisk. He explained that, in his view, the current approach is no different.

Nilisk cited an example from a rural municipality near Tallinn that a few years ago also decided to move all school start times to 9 a.m. "Previously, they managed to transport the children with eight buses; now they need 18. And the cost per kilometer increased several times over," he noted.

He explained that it's not just students who need transport — workers still need to get to their jobs, too, and that adds to the demand.

Nilisk said he did not meet with the ministry's representative to discuss the issue. "We sent a letter from our side to the ministry. They didn't ask us directly, but we took the initiative and outlined the pain points," he said.

He noted that the change would have a broader impact on the entire daily schedule but emphasized that the most difficult part would be the morning rush.

"The afternoon rush starts around 2 p.m. and lasts until about 5 p.m., so it's more spread out. In the morning, everyone wants to be there by 9," the CEO said.

He added that kids also have sports and extracurricular activities, and in his opinion, it will be very difficult to make the system work in a way that satisfies everyone.

"I get the feeling that when these decisions are made, it's like Estonia ends at Jüri — and they can't see beyond it. And that's very unfortunate," Nilisk remarked.

He also pointed out that there's already a shortage of bus drivers. "If you look at the average age of drivers, it's currently around 60, and a large portion of our workforce is brought in from abroad," he said.

"When it comes to school routes, you can't have a driver who doesn't speak the language. They need to understand Estonian, be able to communicate with the students and handle any problems that arise," Nilisk added.

"Being a bus driver isn't particularly popular, and we're trying to promote public transport in general, but that takes time. These are long-term changes and only time will tell how things turn out. I'm afraid that in five years' time, we may not be hearing Estonian-speaking bus drivers at all," said Nilisk.

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