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POLICIES, PROJECTS AND BEST PRACTICES: ESTONIA

By Marco Mazouzi, Marian Cihon, Pawel Warszyck

Transport Development Plan 2014 – 2020


The Transport Development Plan for 2014-2020 is a national-level policy elaborated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications as well as the Ministry of the Interior, Estonian Road Administration and local governments. It provides a framework of guidelines that mostly public authorities use for developing the transport sector until 2020.


The plan also contains directions and principles to solve specific questions of transport development and it is a basis for legal changes of regulations for the transport sector. The objectives and measures set in the plan form a basis for the financial planning of transport infrastructure development with resources from the national budget or EU structural funds. The main objectives relevant for transport are:
- To improve the national public transport network
- To improve the regional public transport network
- To integrate the regional public transport and ticketing system
- To improve flight, railroad and ship connections
- To increase the share of public transport for commuting from 22.8 % to 25 % by 2020
- To increase the number of railroad passengers from 4.416 Million to 8.832 Million by 2020

Key areas for the development of the transport sector are e.g. introducing smart mobility, intelligent transport systems and improving the integration of the public transport network on the national and local level. The activities planned for the period of 2014 – 2020 amount to more than one hundred. Examples include:
- Continuation of the reconstruction of the Tallinn-Tartu highway into a four lane road
- Decreasing the share of cars in cities by improving the conditions for walking, cycling, using public transport and utilising smart solutions to offer various new services, particularly shortterm bicycle and car rental
- Increasing the number of departures and travel speed of train traffic to become the most favoured means of transport connecting Tallinn and other towns
- Improving the train connection with Latvia on the Tartu-Riga line (Rail Baltica) and Russia (the trip to St. Petersburg should be shorter than 5 hours)
- Improving traffic safety to decrease the average number of fatalities to less than 50 per three years and, in a long term perspective, to zero
- Increasing the share of vehicles powered by renewable energy. Bio methane or compressed gas generated from domestic bio mass and waste should become the main alternative type of fuel in Estonia Viimsi Parish (municipality) Development Plan and Financial Strategy for 2018 - 2022
This development plan as a long-term conceptual document was created in 2017 by the Viimsi municipality for its region for the period 2018 – 2022. It is particularly addressed at politicians and officials of the Viimsi Municipality Government. The plan includes strategical objectives with a roadmap for the municipal development, and the necessary resources to achieve them in order to create a better future for the inhabitants of Viimsi rural municipality. The aims that refer to
public transport are:
- Improved infrastructure for more sustainable transport modes including reconstructed roads and stations for public transport
- Improved traffic safety for pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users
- Better multimodal transport solutions including the integration of walking, cycling and car traffic into a public transport system
- A better developed public transport network system including better connections with neighbouring municipalities such as the City of Tallinn and Maardu
- A developed P&R system