Tallinn has signed a three-year contract with Forus Taxi to provide social transport taxi services for people with special needs, following their sole bid in the public procurement.

According to Deputy Mayor Karl Sander Kase, Tallinn has developed flexible social transport options for people with special needs, including the use of taxi services. "Forus Taxi has been our partner so far, and our cooperation has been smooth. The service users have also been satisfied with the service," noted Kase. Kase added that budgetary funds are in place to ensure the service's availability and the participation of people with disabilities in social life.

Tiit Isop, a board member of Forus Takso Eesti AS, expressed his pleasure at continuing to provide the service. "Our team has been wholeheartedly committed to this service for many years, and we fulfill our responsibility with utmost dedication to offer the best service within the framework of the contract."

The new contract period will not bring significant changes for users, but price adjustments must be considered.
As a result of the new procurement, the taxi service price will change from July 1. The starting fee will decrease by 2 euros from the current price, meaning the starting fee for both standard and wheelchair-accessible vehicles will be 3.85 euros from July. The city will cover an additional 8.70 euros for the starting fee of an adapted vehicle.

The price per kilometer will increase by 10 cents for both adapted and non-adapted vehicles. The daytime kilometer price will be 0.89 cents and the nighttime price will be 0.99 cents.

The waiting time fee will increase from 12 euros to 15 euros, which should be considered by those who travel during peak hours or need a stopover during the ride, such as visiting a shop or pharmacy.

As an additional service, Forus Taxi offers assistance for moving on stairs in a chair or wheelchair from the second or higher floor. The price for this assistance service will be 6.71 euros regardless of the number of floors, fully payable by the service user. Assistance from the first floor to the vehicle and back will be free of charge.

One change will be the discontinuation of plastic taxi cards, which will be replaced by ID card-based taxi cards. The existing plastic cards can be used until their expiration.

The new contract with Forus Taxi is for three years, starting July 1, 2024.

The taxi service can be used by Tallinn residents with special needs who have been assessed with a disability and have undergone a comprehensive needs assessment. The service user can use the taxi service up to 190 euros per calendar month, paying 25% of the service cost each time.

Tallinn offers three types of social transport services for people with special needs: regular line transport to work, educational, health, or welfare institutions; occasional transport for individual trips to health or welfare institutions or to use public services, both within Tallinn and to destinations further in Estonia or back; and taxi service for personal trips within the city and up to 30 km away and back. Last year, there were nearly 3700 social transport service users, including over 1500 who used the taxi service.