On Friday, Minister of Regional Affairs and Agriculture Hendrik Terras (Eesti 200) told ERR the current free county line bus policy for children and pensioners will be revoked.

Instead, a new "reasonably priced" monthly discounted pass costing between €15-€20 will be created. Single tickets will cost approximately 50–60 cents, which he described as a "symbolic amount."

The minister said the fee is needed to help with data collection.

"We need to get a clear picture of how much people are actually traveling. We know that many of our buses run empty. To adjust the route network, we need to have that picture, and from there we can start looking at how to reorganize things in a way that ensures mobility, especially in sparsely populated areas," Terras told ERR'S Vikerraadio.

Opposition parties criticised the plan on Friday afternoon.  

Center's Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart said this is how the government wishes everyone a happy New Year.

She highlighted that the Center Party's free public transport policy was abolished in 2023 by the Reform Party together with the Social Democrats (SDE) and Eesti 200.

"At the time, it was promised that the service would improve. That did not happen. Buses did not start running more frequently, and the number of users did not increase. Now, they plan to punish pensioners and children, who until now have belonged to a discounted group and could ride for free. In the future, they will have to buy a €15–20 monthly pass," she wrote on social media.

SDE MP Anti Allas questioned Terras's understanding of public transport.

"Otherwise, why would he make such an absurd claim that ticket revenue is needed so the state knows where and who travels the most? In reality, this information is already fully available to the public transport centers, as ride registration and validation on county lines has been in place for quite some time," he said.

Allas said eliminating the policy is understandable as the costs of maintaining public transport are rising. However, he added: "Unfortunately, the changes being proposed in public transport are coming at the expense of the most vulnerable members of society — children and pensioners."

He also wondered if the policy change indicates that the state is pushing more costs onto local governments.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!