Tallinn sees 60% rise in bike and scooter traffic in recent years
Light mobility traffic in Tallinn has risen about 60 percent in the past five years, city figures show, though critics question how accurately the data reflects actual use.
The estimate is based on annual manual counts at 12 intersections since 2021, conducted during weekday morning and evening rush hours and including bicycles, e-bikes, cargo bikes, scooters and other light mobility devices.
Among the intersections included are Narva maantee and Pronski tänav, Pärnu maantee and Estonia puiestee, and Endla tänav and Tehnika tänav.
Deputy Mayor Joel Jesse (Center) said the trend shows steady growth despite yearly differences in the weather.
"If you look at the five-year trend overall, you could say growth has been around 10 percent a year," he said, adding that overall use has risen roughly 60 percent since 2021.
This year's count shows a smaller increase of about 2% on year. Jesse said figures are also influenced by the weather and how soon the cycling season begins.
Former deputy mayor Pärtel-Peeter Pere, who also previously held the title of bike mayor of Tallinn through the Amsterdam-based urban cycling nonprofit BYCS, welcomed the growth, but questioned whether the city has meaningful data on how people actually get around the Estonian capital.
"The way Tallinn has collected bike traffic data so far reflects a rather primitive, Eastern European approach by the city to a very Nordic form of mobility," Pere said, criticizing the reliance on once-a-year manual counts.
He said other Nordic cities use automatic counters that provide far more precise information, including travel patterns by neighborhood and time of day.
Pere said better data would help improve safety and planning, noting that real-time movement patterns could help the city adjust traffic.
"It would provide a more accurate picture and give the city the ability to adjust traffic management to improve children's safety on the street," he explained.
Automatic counts already key in Tartu
Jesse confirmed Tallinn plans to modernize its system as well. Manual counts will continue, but the city aims to install automatic counters at 30 intersections by the end of the year for more detailed monitoring.
Similar systems in Tartu show continued growth in light mobility. In 2021, automatic counters across Estonia's second city recorded nearly 1 million bike and scooter trips; by last year, that figure had risen to 1.4 million.
Tartu city mobility specialist Olja Fomina said such data is a key tool for urban planning.
She pointed to Turu Bridge, which connects the city center and Annelinn across the Emajõgi River, as one of the city's busiest spots, with more than half a million bike and scooter crossings so far this year.
--
Editor: Karin Koppel, Aili Vahtla
