There will be plenty of changes to bus routes in Vantaa from 15 August. New trunk bus routes 300 and 400 will start running from Helsinki city center to West Vantaa. Bus 300 will run from Elielinaukio via Pähkinärinne to Myyrmäki station. Bus 400 will run from Elielinaukio to Louhela, Martinlaakso and Vantaankoski station.
Trunk bus services run frequently and punctually. Waiting times are short and there is no need to worry about timetables. Travelling on trunk bus routes is easy and smooth. The buses have open fare collection, i.e. passengers with a valid ticket can board the buses through all doors, including the middle doors without showing their ticket to the driver.
The new routes will be provided with traffic signal priorities to reduce travel times. You can identify trunk route buses and stops by their orange color.
The changes will make the bus network in West Vantaa more effective so that it can better meet residents’ diverse needs. New feeder services will provide effective crosstown transport links to district centers as well as links to the new trunk bus routes 300 and 400. Feeder services to railway stations will also improve.
In the future, most journeys from the service areas of the feeder routes to Helsinki city center will require transfers, but the feeder services will run more frequently than the current regional bus services.
Trunk bus routes 300 and 400 largely replace regional bus services from West Vantaa to Helsinki city center. Regional routes 321, 345 and 431 will continue to run.
The trunk routes will not serve some of the current bus stops along the routes. The stops that will not be served are lightly used and walking distances to stops will remain reasonable throughout the routes.
Trunk bus route 600 to start running in Central Vantaa
The most important change in Central Vantaa is the introduction of trunk bus route 600, which will provide direct, frequent service from the center of Helsinki via Aviapolis to Helsinki Airport following the route of the current bus route 615. The new trunk bus route will replace the current route 615. Bus route 614 will operate at peak times on weekdays serving commuters.
In addition, other frequently running direct bus services will be introduced in Central Vantaa, facilitating travel both within the area and to the surrounding areas. Bus route 554 will be converted into route 562, which will run from Suutarila to Helsinki Airport. The new route will improve connectivity between Siltamäki, Jumbo and the airport.
Bus routes 561 and 616 will be merged. The new route 561 will run from Itäkeskus via Malmi and Tammisto to Jumbo. The terminus will move from Helsinki Airport to Kivistö. The bus will run via the Viinikkala employment area and Kannisto neighborhood. The changes will improve transport links from Kivistö and East and North East Helsinki to Aviapolis.
Bus services in Ruskesanta will improve when bus 574 is rerouted to run through the area. Bus 576 will be rerouted to run via Junkersintie.
There will also be changes to the southern section of bus 574. The bus will start running via Ylästö, along with bus 571. Consequently, buses from Ylästö linking with Ring Rail Line trains and buses 400, 431 and 600 will run every ten minutes.
Changes in Kivistö
As of August, bus 433 will run from Petas and Vantaanpuisto straight to Kivistö station, i.e. the bus will no longer run via Kannisto.
Bus 431N will run straight along Mestarintie to Kivistö center, from where it will continue to Kannisto and to the airport along Tikkurilantie. The route change will enable transport links from Kivistö to Helsinki Airport out of commuter train operating hours and shorten journey times between Helsinki and Kivistö. The buses will start running every 30 minutes instead of every 60 minutes.
More frequent services between North Espoo and Vantaa
There will also be changes to bus services in North Espoo.
New bus routes 583 and 584 will improve transport links between North Espoo and Central Vantaa. The buses will run via Louhela station and employment areas along Ring Road III to Jumbo and Aviapolis. Many customers have hoped for a direct service from North Espoo to Jumbo.
Bus routes 583 and 584 will replace routes 436 and 437. The new routes will run between Niipperi and Aviapolis every 10 minutes at peak times. Currently, buses 436 and 437 run up to every 15 minutes.
Transport links from Lähderanta and Jupperi to West Vantaa and Myyrmäki will improve. The combined service frequency of routes 565 and 565B will be 10 minutes at peak times. The buses link with trunk bus route 300 in Koivuvaara.
Bus route 321, Elielinaukio–Vihdintie–Jupperi–Järvenperä–Vanhakartano, will run on weekdays only. The buses will run every 30 minutes at peak times, at other times every 60 minutes.
Residents’ input in the planning process important
We maintained active dialogue with residents of Vantaa and North Espoo as well as with other people who travel in the areas throughout the planning process.
We conducted travel surveys to understand the travel needs of people in different areas. We had a blog for each plan, where our public transport planners told about the project and discussed ideas with residents.
Discussion was lively. For example, the blog for Tuusulanväylä route network plan, where the new bus routes for Central Vantaa were discussed, was viewed about 44,000 times and we received some 1,000 comments via the blog.
We also held resident meetings and workshops, and information about the plans was provided on electronic displays at stops and on buses.
Residents’ active participation paid off.
We made several changes to the plans based on customer feedback, presented the new plans to customers and further refined the plans based on the comments.
We would like to thank everyone who participated in the planning. Best public transport services are designed together.