Bus timetables change at 700 stops in Võru and Põlva

Passengers in Võru and Põlva counties will face timetable changes at nearly 700 bus stops as the school year begins, ERR reported. The changes will affect about 10% of routes from September 1.

Sander Saar, chief executive of the Southeast Estonian Public Transport Centre, urged people to check departure times before using public transport.

“Departure times will be updated at almost 700 stops. Therefore, everyone who uses public transport should check the departure times before September 1,” Saar said.

However, the changes will not make travel easier everywhere. In sparsely populated areas, it is difficult to coordinate public transport schedules, so residents still use their cars to travel to work and take their children to school.

Raul Tohvi, mayor of Võru Parish, said people who work or study in the city but live farther away had to travel by car because public transport did not meet their needs.

“There are no good solutions here, but we can see from the parish budget that we are spending increasingly more money to help these people,” Tohvi said.

The Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture believes local governments are better placed to organise transport for residents of small settlements.

Andres Ruubas, head of the ministry’s public transport department, said demand-based transport could offer one possible solution. He said public transport needed to provide coverage and access for everyone, while additional passengers were more likely to be found in larger settlements where services and jobs were located.