Night buses have been operating in Tallinn for a year
On May 19, it marked a year since the introduction of night bus lines in Tallinn. In addition to the four routes tested last year, two new routes to Nõmme and Pirita were added this January.
According to Deputy Mayor Kristjan Järvan, the night bus lines provide essential transportation for residents during late evening and night hours on weekends. “The night lines allow people to get home comfortably and safely when other public transport is no longer running. Such a service is also available in other European capitals. In Tallinn, the most popular of the six night bus lines are those to Mustamäe, Priisle, and Vana-Pääsküla,” added the Deputy Mayor.Data collected in the first four months of this year show that on weekends, an average of 48% of night bus users travel on Friday nights into Saturday, and 52% travel on Saturday nights into Sunday. The peak usage time for night buses is between 00:30 and 02:00, with the most popular departure being at 00:30.
Tallinn's night-time advisor Natalie Mets noted that a qualitative survey conducted among night bus users last year showed high satisfaction with the service. “Most respondents used the service regularly and gave high ratings for the safety of the night buses. The night buses allow people to forgo taxis and use the saved money to enjoy cultural activities instead,” explained Mets.
From January to April, the night buses were used by an average of 1,400 to 1,650 people per weekend, but in May, the trend is rising. This is expected as more late-night cultural events take place in the city centre during the spring-summer period. On the first weekends of May, the average number of users had already risen to 1,800. During the pilot period last summer, 2,300 to 2,800 people used the night bus service over the weekend.
Tallinn has six night bus lines: route 91 to Mustamäe, route 92 to Väike-Õismäe, route 93 to Pelguranna, route 94 to Priisle, route 95 to Viimsi center, and route 96 to Vana-Pääsküla. The night bus lines start from the county lines stop at Balti Jaam. Night buses operate on the early hours of Saturday and Sunday from 00:30 to 03:30 with a 30-minute interval (the last departure is only from Balti Jaam and heads outbound). Timetables can be found at bus stops and on the website http://transport.tallinn.ee.