Estonia has become the first European country to offer free travel by bus across the country. They intend to help slow rural depopulation and reduce fuel consumption. Free buses from early July operate in eleven of the fifteen districts.
"There are many cities and regions in Europe where there is free public transport, but there has not been such a nationwide project yet," said Estonian Economy and Infrastructure Minister Kadri Simson.
"We were looking to revive the countryside and stop people from leaving the city," she said, explaining that the program is the result of a debate between the central government and the districts. Free bus transport, according to the minister, it has provided rural residents a mobility and facilitating access to day-to-day services.
Estonia also thinks about ecology
The Estonian Parliament decided last year to reduce fossil fuel consumption to remain at the 2012 level at 2030. "This means we have to find a way to encourage people to travel more ecologically, for example by public transportation," Simson said. This could also reduce the number of private cars on the roads.
Traveling free of charge in free buses marked by the Tasita inscription, unlike the capital, there are people who do not have a permanent residence in that district. However, due to the statistics, they have to record the ride using a card that sells for two euros (about 50 crowns) and is valid in all the districts that the free lines have introduced.
In the remaining four districts, passengers traveling under the age of 20 or over 62 years may travel free of charge.
Tallinn has introduced free urban transport as the first metropolis in the world
Already since 2013, buses, trams and trolleybuses can be used free of charge by the Tallinn people who came to the world's first capital city . The aim was to get people to prefer public transport to cars, and also to make travel easier for the poorest.
The condition for free travel for a half-million-year metropolis is a permanent residence in Tallinn. The tourists and Estonians who are only visiting the city are not entitled to it.
Mayor of metropolis Taavi Aas insists he is a successful project despite the fact that the cars in the capital have been added. Half of urban transport users, according to last year's survey, say they have used it more often than it is free.
However, critics fear the possible negative effects of free bus transport on the rail. "The main question is whether the bus network in the districts will support or compete with rail transport, both for paid and free bus services," said Elron International Business Director, Ronnie Kongo. Only this year, however, the number of passengers on trains increased by eight percent.