Tallinn City Government will allocate an additional EUR 4 million to cover rising wages and fuel costs in the transport sector. There are currently no plans in place to reduce routes or raise ticket prices.
Deputy Mayor for Transport Andrei Novikov (Center) said the capital’s transport costs were approximately EUR 80 million a year. This includes approximately EUR 30 million of investments.
But over the past year costs, such as electricity and spare parts, have risen. These increases are linked to global fuel prices and supply chains.
One example is gas and over the last 10 months, the city has spent EUR 400,000 more than expected. An additional EUR 173,000 has been spent on electricity.
Meanwhile, ticket sales have fallen.
“We have a shortfall of about EUR 1.4 million. In other words, it can be said that the decrease compared to last year is about 25%,” Novikov said.
Additional money will now be allocated from the city budget to cover the costs, which also includes wage increases.
The deputy mayor said there were no plans to increase fares for non-residents to create additional revenue or to reduce the transport network.
“On the route network side, it is always a political decision and so far the city has assumed that our public transport is a priority and, instead, the network is expected to grow,” he said.
Novikov said he expected there to be new routes and vehicles, as well as more services on existing routes. (ERR/Business World Magazine)