Estonia offers free public transport

19 April 2012 – Buses and coaches are the most cost-effective and economically sound means of passenger transport so how could it possibly get better? Just ask the Mayor of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, who says that the city will offer free public transport across its bus and tram network starting 2013.

Mayor Edgar Savisaar said that Tallinn was the first city in Europe to take such a step, which would make it "the flagship of the Green Movement in Europe". Officials say that three-quarters of voters in a referendum backed the idea to offer free public transport - part of an attempt to make the city one of the greenest in Europe.

According to Tallinn officials, some 68,000 people supported the move, in a week-long vote that involved polling stations being set up in city shopping centres and community halls.

Despite Estonian media reporting that the proposal would cost an estimated 20m Euros, city officials argue that it will reduce the use of private vehicles in Tallinn, hence road congestion and CO2 emissions.