An insight into Tallinn’s free-fare transport
As a resident of Tallinn, you get to travel on the tram, the train, and the bus—for free! Since 2013, Estonia’s capital has made transit fare-free for its residents by absorbing the costs through taxes. And the good news? Except in a few rural districts, the approach is now countrywide.
But just because transit is free doesn’t mean it’s good. After ten years, Tallinn’s free transit program is now under heavy scrutiny, failing to achieve its goals of increasing transit passengers and reducing car usage. With experts and politicians calling for its cancellation, free transit in Estonia is now in danger. So, should public transit be free?
Why did Tallinn make their transport free?
All Tallinn residents get a green card—for free! It gives them access to trains, trams, and buses. By making transit free, Tallinn is treating it as an essential social service. The public transport system is seen as a basic mobility right. Think about it: we pay for roads, police, firefighters, and libraries collectively through state taxes. These services benefit everyone, even if you don’t use them. In essence, they’re cornerstones of a smoothly functioning society. Tallinn views public transit the same way—as a universal service with the potential to provide significant benefits for all of society.
Abolishing fares makes transit easier to use. It acts as a financial incentive to get people out of their cars, reducing congestion, road maintenance, and greenhouse gas emissions. But most importantly, the purpose is to access the economy—whether it’s jobs, grocery stores, or a nail salon. There’s an argument that free transit stimulates economic growth by allowing more people to do more activities.
How did free transit revitalise Tallinn’s economy?
Tallinn is no stranger to economic stagnation. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Estonia struggled to define its newly independent capitalist economy. Much of the city’s poor working-class population lived in Soviet-era suburban tower blocks far from the city centre. For these suburban residents, removing the financial burden of travel broadened their access to jobs and education, increasing their economic mobility. Free transit not only helped the economy; it was a critical part of making a more equitable city.
Balancing funding with reliable transport
But who’s footing the bill for these free journeys? The money must come from somewhere—whether to pay for drivers, fuel the buses, or do regular maintenance. The problem is that free often means less funding for the service it’s providing. With fares gone, additional taxes now plug the revenue gap instead of enhancing the system. Other cities with comparatively poor transit service, like Kansas City and Luxembourg, have been criticised in the past for investing in fare removals instead of service improvements. But Tallinn doesn’t face that trade-off between poor service and free fares. There’s frequent service on the main lines, extensive coverage, and very clean, well-maintained vehicles. As George Liu, a researcher at the University of Munich, noted, “transit service has been quite good, in my experience.”.
The Digital Government Programme
Over the past 20 years, Estonia has developed the world’s most sophisticated digital government program, with 99% of government services accessible completely online. The Estonian government has capitalized on this through its e-residency program, which opens up digital services to foreigners. As a result, Estonia has become a gateway into the EU market for foreign investors and companies, made easy by its highly developed digital infrastructure. This means that more people, including some who have never even set foot in the country, are paying taxes to the Estonian government, generating revenue to fund social services, including high-quality, fare-free public transit.
Why is free transit not reducing car use in Tallin?
On paper, Tallinn’s transit system should be attracting many more passengers and reducing car use. It provides frequent, reliable service while being completely free to use. However, reality has told a different story. While public transport use numbers have increased, still more than half of the trips to work are done by car. In Tallinn’s case, passenger increases were lower than expected. It appears that with fare elimination, most trips shifted from walking and cycling, not reducing auto trips by the necessary margin. This results in a net increase in carbon emissions for people who would have previously relied on active mobility. Overall, free public transport has not reached its goals of reducing car journeys.
Why Tallinn’s transit network needs more than just fare removal
One thing to consider about free transit is the question of elasticity: how many more passengers can we get by making transit free? For every euro reduced off the transit fare, how many extra people can we induce into the system? General research has shown that passengers value timely and frequent services more than free travel. Tallinn’s own studies showed that people responded more positively to service improvements than fare removals. Making public transit free doesn’t necessarily change the habits of those who drive. In order to reduce driving, there needs to be an incentive to get drivers out of their cars. Pricing mechanisms like transit fares, fuel taxes, and parking fees can help shift the balance away from cars.
But these don’t solve the most critical flaws in Tallinn’s transit network, which relies on slow but frequent trams and local buses to cover long-distance suburban trips. Without widespread regional rail or metro service, Tallinn lacks the faster modes necessary for transit to compete with private cars.
Why is Estonia ending its free transit program after a decade?
Ten years on, Estonia is now ending its nationwide free transit program. Although transit will remain free for residents in Tallinn, growing operating costs are putting its continuation at risk. The program was supposed to reduce car usage and encourage more sustainable mobility, but it failed to deliver on those promises and may have created other negative impacts. Even so, free transit remains exceptionally popular. Polls show that 90% of Tallinn residents still support the program.
As a political experiment, it has been incredibly successful. However, residents still choose to drive because it’s the fastest and most convenient option. For transit to outcompete cars, it can’t just be free. It must be a more attractive option in every way—faster, cheaper, and more reliable.
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