On Thursday, about 400 buses still departed from the Baltic Station daily. From Friday, the number of buses departing from the Baltic Station will be halved. Buses heading west and southwest will now depart from the Viru Center.
The head of public transport, Andrus Nilisk, said that the Viru Center used to be a transit stop. Now it is the starting point. Buses need to arrive at the stop earlier to depart on time. This may increase the traffic load at the Viru Center.
Nilisk said: "There is not much space at the Viru stop. Previously, buses were divided between three stops. Now there is only one stop. We don’t yet know if this will remain the case. First, we need to see how people get used to it."
Passengers of regional lines are not happy with the change at the Baltic Station. Passenger Vambola said: "This is a madhouse. If you have 15 minutes, you have to go to Nafta. It takes a quarter of an hour. How to get there? There’s nowhere to even stand. There are also other buses. If everyone arrives at the same time, where will they stand?"
In Tallinn, it was decided not to extend the bus parking contract. Instead of the current parking lot, a sports field will be built for schoolchildren.
Kristjan Järvan, the city’s transport manager, said that we need to think about where most passengers want to go. That’s the area around the Viru Center. Buses need to go around the Old Town and then return to the stop.
Järvan does not believe that the traffic load at the Viru stop will become too great. He said that the Baltic Station will remain a traffic hub, but its importance will decrease. In the future, the important traffic hubs will be Kristiine and Ülemiste.