Elderly Jõhvi residents lose free travel on Kohtla-Järve city buses
Pensioners from Jõhvi municipality in Estonia's Ida-Viru County can no longer ride Kohtla-Järve city buses for free, as the pilot project's budget ran out in under two months. They now pay €0.70 per trip.
Pensioners living in Jõhvi municipality, in Estonia's Ida-Viru County, have lost free travel on the city buses of neighboring Kohtla-Järve since Thursday. The budget of a pilot project was exhausted in less than two months because demand had been underestimated, according to the Russian-language program "Aktuaalne kaamera" of Estonian public broadcaster ERR.
Until now, Jõhvi residents aged 63 and over could ride Kohtla-Järve's city buses at no charge. The two towns lie a few kilometers apart. Elderly passengers must now pay the concessionary fare of €0.70 per trip.
How the project began
The Jõhvi–Kohtla-Järve pilot started on September 1. Its main aim was to make it easier for Jõhvi schoolchildren, including those from the outlying settlements of Järveküla and Kohtla-Nõmme, to get to school and back. The concessions were later extended to other Jõhvi residents, with Jõhvi municipality covering the difference in ticket prices.
Aivar Kamal, head of Kohtla-Järve's finance service, said Jõhvi residents had the same conditions as Kohtla-Järve's own: pensioners rode free and schoolchildren paid 50 cents. The project had been budgeted at €12,000 through the end of the year, but the money ran out in under two months. The contract with Jõhvi is now being revised. The municipality wants to keep the concessions, but with pensioners paying 70 cents a trip, while Jõhvi schoolchildren continue to pay 50 cents.
The cost
Jõhvi municipality spokesperson Ilmar Aun said free travel for pensioners between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. had proved the most expensive option for the municipality. In October alone, passengers made almost 4,800 free trips, a level of demand the municipality had not anticipated. Each trip cost its budget one euro, or roughly €4,800 for the month. Maintaining the same concessions that Kohtla-Järve gives its own residents would have cost Jõhvi between €120,000 and €130,000 a year.
The municipality intends to keep concessionary fares next year as well. Whether free travel returns for elderly Jõhvi residents will depend on negotiations with Kohtla-Järve. Travel conditions for elderly residents of Kohtla-Järve itself have not changed.
