Two years of free public transport in Tallinn

February, 2015

Allan AlakülaHead of Tallinn EU Office

Basic figures

Population of Tallinn 434 810 (1st February 2015)City budget ~ 530 Mio €Total number of PT vehicles in traffic (buses, trams,

trolleybuses) – 440 (2012)/ 477 (today)2012

PT budget – 53 Mio € in 2012 (61 Mio € in 2015)Total tickets revenue - 17 Mio €5 Mio € from non-residentsCost of free PT for residents:

12 Mio € annually

Growing number of private cars

01.01.2010 01.01.2011 01.01.2012 01.01.2013 30.09.2013

City of Tallinn 122 695 132 906 145 867 157 494 165 823

City with Harju county

178 211 194 486 214 282 230 841 242 614

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Growth in 3 years and 9 months:City of Tallinn – 35%Harju county – 36%

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Why free public transport (FPT)?Social aspects: •Guaranteeing mobility for unemployed and residents with low income•Sharing common space by different segments of the society

Economic aspects: •Increasing labour mobility within the city limits •Stimulating consumption of local goods and services

Green aspects: •Modal shift from cars to PT •Cleaner air, less noise, more urban space

Fiscal aspects: •Strong motivation to register as residents, increasing personal income tax revenues to city budget

Plebiscite on free PT 19-25 March, 2012Plebiscite informed the community and

involved them in decision-making, thus locking the free PT decision politically - power shift in the Council cannot change it easily Result: Yes -75,5%, No - 24,5%

FPT for the residents in the municipal PT on the territory of the city started from 01.01.2013

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Allan Alaküla, Head of Tallinn EU Office29.01.2013

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In the beginning there was a referendum

More space for PT: Summer 2012 expanding separated bus lanes network in city centre from 15 km to total 23 km

Management: merger of two municipal public transport companies (June 2012)

Accountability: implementation of new PT ticketing system based on contactless cards (from September 2012)

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Preparatory steps

New residents: registered population in City of Tallinn grew since April 2012 by <19 000 persons

Result: increasing municipal revenues from personal income tax every 1000 residents brings ca1 million euros into city budget

Cost of FPT 12 million covered with surplus

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Main source of funding

Additional source of fundingRaising parking tariffs and expanding paid

hours from 01.01.2014As average by +25%In Old Town 4.80, in the centre 3 euros hour

It was communicated as for raising the bus drivers salary

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Initial results

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Number of passengers in 2014 up by 9% compared to 2012

PT is for 51% tallinners main mode of mobility in the city74% of PT users are satisfied with the quality of the serviceSatisfaction index up from 3,61 (2010) to 3,93 (2014) on the scale of 5.

19% respondents claim they use PT more while it became free, 4% drive and 4% walk less

43% of unemloyed respondents claim FPT helps them to find new job

Free ride in trains From October 28, 2013 all trains became free for residents inside the city limits Paid from the city budget to Elron according to actual usage Usage quadrupled immediately, now 6 times higher compared to the previous time However total share of trips made by train out of all PT trips remain meagre 2%

Textbook case how the price matters more that quality

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Vision for expansionExpanding free public transport in Estonia

nationwide to all county lines would cost 11 million euros, Even if adding capacity it remains still

comparable to the FPT cost in Tallinn

Making ferry connection free for the residents of 2 western islands is campaigned too

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International FPT networkingBringing together free public transport cities,

movements/activists and researchersAnnual FPT conferences 2012 and 2013 in Tallinn, 2014 in Zory, Poland, 2015 FPT conference TBC in Avesta, SwedenBilateral exchange with Chengdu, China

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Dream of Tallinn

City of Tallinn is looking forward to become the candidate for the European Green Capital nomination for 2018

FPT is one brave step in this processFree waste collection is under consideration

www.tallinn.ee/freepublictransport

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