Use of public transport on the rise in Kirkkonummi and Sipoo

The use of public transport has substantially increased in Kirkkonummi since HSL took over the planning and tendering of Kirkkonummi bus routes on 11 August 2014.

The passenger numbers were estimated by comparing the amount of 3-zone extended regional tickets in the two municipalities.

In Kirkkonummi, the ticket sales between September 2014 and February 2015 were up by 6.5 per cent from the previous year. Passenger numbers have increased also in Sipoo: in Sipoo the sales of 3-zone extended regional season tickets was up by 1.5 per cent (September-February) from the previous year.

Across the HSL area, the number of boardings increased by 1.6 percent between September 2014 and February 2015 compared to the same period of time in 2013-2014. The HSL area covers Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Kauniainen, Kerava, Sipoo and Kirkkonummi.

“We made changes to the route networks in Kirkkonummi and Sipoo to make them easier to understand,” says HSL Head of Group Arttu Kuukankorpi.

Earlier, there were about 150 different routes in Kirkkonummi; now the figure is 24. “On the basis of the ticket sales figures, the changes were mainly successful. Also the amount of customer feedback has decreased from last autumn so it seems that the new route network meets the customers’ needs better than the old one,” says Kuukankorpi.

In addition, a number of changes were made last autumn to improve bus links to schools in Kirkkonummi as well as the punctuality of services between Kirkkonummi and Helsinki. In January, peak-time capacity was increased. In the coming summer, HSL will further improve the punctuality of bus services between Kirkkonummi and Helsinki.

As it is now possible to monitor the passenger numbers in Kirkkonummi and Sipoo in the HSL Travel Card system, the comparison data is more accurate than before.