In early January, Minister of Regional Affairs Hendrik Terras (Eesti 200) proposed a plan to abolish free rides for students and the elderly on Estonia's county lines and charge these groups €15–20 for a monthly bus pass or 50–60 cents for a single ticket.

According to Fred Püss, adviser at the public relations department of the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture, the plan has now been set aside and no timeline has been set for it to take effect.

"The current discussion focuses on ensuring the sustainability of county-level public transport in a situation where costs are rising and existing funding does not cover maintaining the current service volume. The real choice is whether additional funding will be found or whether routes and departures will have to be reduced," Püss added.

In Terras' view, the goal of public transport must be to provide people with a functioning and accessible service. Therefore, Püss said, the focus is currently on how to preserve connections and ensure people retain the mobility they need without placing additional burdens on students and pensioners.

On Monday, the ministry announced an update under which, starting March 16, a single period ticket can be used in Tallinn and Harju County for travel on trains, county bus routes and Tallinn public transport.

The update to the joint ticket is the first step toward transitioning to a unified ticketing system where tickets will be valid across different forms of public transport under the same principles and the zone system will become simpler than it is currently.

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