Tallinn public transport serviced nearly 133 million passengers last year
The 650+ public transport vehicles of Tallinna Linnatransport (TLT) covered nearly 36 million kilometres and serviced nearly 133 million passengers, 36.5 million more than in 2022.
The increase in the number of passengers and kilometres travelled is mostly due to citizen’s return to normal life but certainly also due to the general rise in the cost of living, which is making more and more people opt for free and convenient public transport opportunities. The past year has shown that public transport is often a more convenient way of getting around the city as there’s no need to worry about parking. Furthermore, developments to improve the route network have made connections between the districts more convenient and accessible to commuters, providing a great alternative to using a personal car. Work in this direction will also continue this year.
According to Kaido Padar, member of the board at TLT, the past year was challenging because of the large number of major changes. “Constant adaptation, timetable adjustments, passenger notification and temporary routes,” Padar said. “We had to adapt to major construction works in the city centre as well as transition to the new route network. Joking aside, we can say that public transport was present right alongside life and movement. Everyone already knows and takes for granted that night buses run at the weekend. What’s certainly encouraging is that the number of passengers increased every month, and we even had to increase the number of buses on some routes. We want people to trust us even more and to have public transport be their first choice.”
He added that in order to improve passenger satisfaction and the quality of the service offered, the company will continue to make the service more environmentally friendly, pro urban space and user friendly in the current year. The aim is also to focus even more on service culture and quality to gradually transform the transportation company into a modern service provider.
According to Padar, the past year was also one of signing agreements. “While today there are 542 buses, 45 trolleybuses and 65 trams servicing the citizens during rush hours, this spring we will have new trams and electric buses,” Padar said. “The first 15 electric buses are already on their way. The first 12 of the 23 modern PESA trams ordered will arrive to Tallinn this spring. In addition, preparations for purchasing new trolleybuses are underway.”
The year 2023 in figures:
The buses made nearly 2.5 million journeys, servicing nearly 103 million passengers.
The trolleybuses made nearly 300,000 journeys, servicing nearly 10.2 million passengers.
The trams made nearly 300,000 journeys, servicing nearly 20.1 million passengers.
Nearly 160,000 journeys were made using social transport, servicing nearly 550 unique clients each month.
