“Centers have three choices: to introduce free rides, offer cheaper tickets, or continue with the recent system and prices,” Simson said.
Seeder keeping silent
The minister finds Pärnu County’s plan expensive as well. “The Pärnu center wanted to create concessions on county and city lines. Unfortunately, there is no money with which to finance cheaper tickets on local government lines.”
Simson said that Pärnu County local governments can transfer the cost of free rides for students to the city as things stand. “They would simply need to opt for free rides on county lines that would in turn free up local government resources,” she recommended.
One of the opponents of mandatory free public transport, IRL chairman Helir-Valdor Seeder said that it is too soon to say whether Simson’s regulation is acceptable. “I dare not say through the press that we now have a good solution and the minister has changed her mind,” Seeder said.
He said that while the regulation might not have laid down mandatory free county coaches, it is not impossible the road administration will do so using subsidies.
“If subsidies will be made available on these conditions, I believe that common sense and pressure from local people will force public transit centers to switch to free county coaches,” Seeder reasoned.
The chairman said that now it is necessary to wait and see what kind of proposals public transport centers will make and how the road administration will react. “We will be able to make our moves as politicians based on that.”