People’s travel patterns in the Helsinki metropolitan area have been studied for almost 50 years. During this time, the share of public transport has been constantly decreasing although the absolute numbers of passengers have been increasing. The downward trend has been attributed to the substantial increase in private motoring since the 1960s.
HSL's Traffic Survey 2012, published last week, reveals a remarkable shift in travel behavior: the share of public transport on journeys made in the metropolitan area by car or public transport has increased to 43 per cent (2008: 42 per cent). A particularly positive development is that the share of public transport has increased in all municipalities in the area, on both commuter and leisure journeys, among men and women and in all age groups. Private motoring is increasing faster than the use of public transport only among the over-65s. The result is surprising as HSL’s previous transport system forecasts have predicted that the relative share of public transport would continue to decrease until 2035.
“The shift is a result of sustained development of public transport in the Helsinki region over several decades. Today, public transport has a very strong brand. It is seen as an essential part of a well-functioning, convenient and clean urban environment. An increasing number of young people decide not to get a driver's license or purchase a car because public transport meets their travel needs so well. The same trend can be seen in other major cities internationally,” says HSL's Executive Director Suvi Rihtniemi.
“The positive change has been greater than predicted. During the autumn, HSL will update its transport system forecasts in the light of the new results,” says the Head of Group Marko Vihervuori from HSL’s Traffic Surveys and Forecasts.
Also walking and cycling have increased in popularity in particular in the metropolitan area municipalities (Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen).
Espoo residents commute by public transport more than before
On commuter journeys, public transport has gained popularity in Espoo, in particular. Also in the surrounding municipalities people commute by public transport more than before. On leisure journeys, the residents of Helsinki and Vantaa choose public transport instead of car more often while in Espoo people increasingly use car. In the surrounding municipalities, there is no significant change in the leisure travel patterns.
Also people who have a driver’s license and a car use public transport more than before in all areas.
“It is great to see that also motorists have increasingly included public transport in their travel mix. Making it easy to combine motoring and public transport, for example, by developing Park & Ride, will be even more important in the future,” says Rihtniemi.
In particular, young people (18 – 29 years old) living in Espoo have increased their use of public transport as well as residents of Helsinki and Vantaa aged 30 – 44 years. By contrast, the over-65s are increasingly opting for car instead of public transport in all areas.
Men are catching up women in the use of public transport. Particularly in Helsinki and the surrounding municipalities, men have clearly increased the use of public transport while for women, there is no change. Still, women use public transport clearly more than men. In the metropolitan area, 34 per cent and in the surrounding municipalities, 13 per cent of men choose public transport instead of car while the corresponding figures for women are 50 and 17.
A more extensive analysis of the Traffic Survey and a report will be completed towards the end of the year.
Residents want more public transport, less cars
In conjunction with the Traffic Survey, HSL also carried out a barometer survey to determine residents' attitudes to transport. Most of the respondents would like to develop public transport in the area. The next most important development area is cycling paths and conditions. The respondents were also strongly in favor of, for example, reducing emissions and traffic noise and concentrating land use along good public transport connections. Over 60 per cent of the respondents were for and less than 20 per cent against mitigating the growth in motorized transport.
The survey also sought people’s opinions on the use of parking fees to reduce private motoring in city centers. A clear majority of respondents supported the idea. A small majority of people in the metropolitan area (Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Kauniainen) supported the idea of collecting congestion charges and allocating the revenue to public transport development. In the surrounding municipalities, more people were against congestion charges than for them.