In HSL’s customer survey last spring, over 80 per cent of the respondents gave public transport services either a good a very good grade. Only two per cent of the respondents were dissatisfied.
Passengers gave public transport services an overall grade of almost 4 on a scale of 1 to 5, which was slightly higher than in spring 2012.
In the spring, HSL conducted a survey to measure passengers' opinions on its services. Some 25,000 passengers responded to the survey. The survey was conducted from mid-January to the end of May on weekdays on buses, metro, commuter trains and trams.
Satisfaction with commuter trains on the rise
The biggest changes compared to spring 2012 were seen in the grades given to commuter train services which were clearly up. By contrast, the grades given to the Metro were down.
Passenger satisfaction with commuter train services has improved in leaps and bounds over the past two years. In spring 2011, only some 17 per cent of the respondents were satisfied with the services while in spring 2012 the figure was almost 70 per cent and this year already 80 per cent.
Also, the reliability of train services has clearly improved in the respondents’ opinion. In spring 2012, 41 per cent of the respondents were satisfied with the reliability while this spring the figure was 60 per cent.
Passenger satisfaction with the reliability of tram services has also improved from spring 2012. The improved satisfaction with the rail services is due to the smooth operation of the services last winter. Passenger satisfaction with tram and commuter train services was higher than in spring 2012 in January and February, in particular.
The Metro has repeatedly received the best grades. The share of satisfied Metro passengers was about 90 per cent, which was higher than the figures for buses, trams and commuter trains.
However, there is a slight downward trend in passenger satisfaction. In spring 2012, over 90 per cent of the respondents considered the Metro to be reliable while this spring the figure was 83 per cent. The share of passengers satisfied with the smoothness of travel fell from 98 to 94 per cent.
The decreased satisfaction is explained by problems in the introduction of new platform displays, among others.
Strikes and traffic arrangements reflected in the results
Passenger satisfaction was affected also by diversion routes and stoppages. In Tapiola, Espoo, Merituulentie was closed to bus traffic in January due to construction work and this affected the routes and timetables of over 20 bus services. The arrangements affected passenger satisfaction in particular on Espoo internal routes running via Tapiola.
Stoppages by the drivers of Veolia Transport Vantaa in April and May clearly affected passenger satisfaction on several Vantaa internal bus routes on the days following the stoppages.
Tram services were affected by the renovation and construction work in Hakaniemi which forced tram routes 6, 7A and 7B on diversion routes from the beginning of April. Passengers gave clearly lower grades than before to the smoothness of transfers on tram routes 7A and 7B.