{"id":16672,"date":"2022-05-19T08:00:22","date_gmt":"2022-05-19T06:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.ptvgroup.com\/?p=16672"},"modified":"2025-06-06T09:44:36","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T07:44:36","slug":"digital-transport-model-tallinn-predicting-mobility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.ptvgroup.com\/en\/modeling-planning\/digital-transport-model-tallinn-predicting-mobility\/","title":{"rendered":"Predicting mobility: The digital transport model in Tallinn"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The city of Tallinn is progressive in many ways. Estonia\u2019s capital is often named as a smart city role model<\/a> because of its strong focus on livable urban spaces<\/a>, digital transformation, and sustainability. In 2021, Tallinn confirmed this reputation by launching the Baltic region\u2019s first Digital Transport Model.<\/p>\n

The groundbreaking transport model, created by PTV Visum software<\/a>, is now the city\u2019s main tool to predict mobility needs and improve urban planning. It is a collaboration between the Tallinn Transport Department and PTV Group.<\/p>\n

Transport models are digital twins<\/a> of complex real-world transport and land use systems. The PTV Visum-based Tallinn Strategic Transport Model includes data on 130,000 road sections, which are constantly updated.<\/p>\n

The digital transport model simulates passenger and freight transport activities and covers all mobility in the region of Tallinn. It provides the city\u2019s Transportation Department a reliable demand model with detailed analyses of infrastructure. Local and regional transport policies can be studied through the model.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Transport model empowers planners<\/h2>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”16695″ img_size=”500×500″ add_caption=”yes”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_empty_space height=”132″][vc_column_text]Grigori Parfjonov, an Urban Mobility Expert at Tallinn Transportation Department, explained why the city needed a transport model: \u201cWe reached to a point where an additional tool would be very helpful to analyze both traffic and public transportation issues. Obviously, a transport model is not a cure for all problems, but it is a good supplement for solving complicated transport problems. We chose PTV Visum because it fully fulfills our need to become more sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n

All kind of road users can be modelled within the digital transport model: Cars, public transport, trucks, and pedestrians, and more. Planners using the model can also distinguish between 12 types of user groups, including students, workers, and pensioners. It also considers complex movement patterns, such as persons taking their children to school on the way to work.<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The digital transport model not only helps Tallinn\u2019s planners understand the present mobility ecosystem. Within this digital playground, they can also run through future scenarios and predict mobility problems.<\/p>\n

The model empowers the city planners to assess the feasibility and impact of different measures in urban planning. They can then take the right decisions to support healthy urban development.<\/p>\n

Andrei Novikov, Deputy Mayor of Tallinn, explains: \u201cAmong other things, we can assess the different needs of the people in each region. The traffic simulations used in the model can, for example, make better decisions about what the capacity needs of one or the other should be today, or assess decisions to upgrade the city\u2019s public transport network.\u201d<\/p>\n

Building from scratch<\/h2>\n

Building the model was challenging, as no actual transport model was existing before. \u201cThe modelling experts of\u00a0 PTV could not rely on previous work but had to establish the model from scratch\u201d, explains Bernhard Fell from PTV Group, who was involved in the project, \u201cthis constituted a major challenge, especially as the availability and quality of model input data was partly limited.\u201d<\/p>\n

To build the model, the following steps were taken:<\/p>\n