Overcrowded buses leave Kõrveküla students behind

Passengers travelling from Kõrveküla School towards Tartu are concerned about overcrowded buses, ERR reported. Tartu Municipality says there is no quick solution because the available capacity on both city and county routes has been fully contracted.

Parents contacted the municipality at the start of the school year after some students were unable to board. The main problem is a city bus travelling towards the rapidly growing Raadi area during the afternoon rush hour.

“The bus was so full. I tried to squeeze in, but everyone pushed me out. This happens quite often,” Kõrveküla School student Kevin said. Another student, Mirko, said he had missed a bus once because there were too many people on board.

“Our ability to order additional buses on both city and county routes is essentially non-existent, because the contracts have reached their maximum capacity. There is no possibility of adding extra departures under the current agreements,” Tartu rural municipality mayor Jarno Laur said.

Laur said public transport planning had also become more difficult because of the Ministry of Education and Research’s decision on school start times. From the next academic year, the municipality will have to duplicate bus routes so that children can reach school by 9 a.m. According to the municipality, most workers travel to Tartu by 8 a.m.

Students travelling from Kõrveküla School towards Raadi and Tartu should not expect larger buses or more frequent services before at least 2028. Until then, the municipality may adjust the school timetable to spread out passenger flows. Laur also recommended that students use county bus routes, whose stops may be farther from home but still within walking distance.

For future contracts, the municipality plans to request articulated buses for peak-hour departures and retain a reserve of city-route kilometres that could be used to increase service frequency, Laur said.