Erstellt am: 31. 7. 2014 - 16:27 Uhr
"Mobility on Demand"
The city of Helsinki has announced a change in thinking as regards its public transport network system. The government wants to put in place a point-to-point "mobility on demand" system over the next 10 years. It would basically mean, say as you are about to leave your home and make your way on your journey across the city, you would click on a specific app, key in your present location and your destination and the possibilities appear for that journey, giving you the cheapest & most direct options via car hire, bike hire, bus, train, taxi or tram. The app would also allow you to buy the costs of that journey.
FM4 / Alex Wagner
The city has thought about urban mobility of the future, considered environmental concerns and looked at how people are individually using their favourite travel apps. The answer they are coming up with is for the city to offer an attractive one-stop app that takes care of your thinking and your pocket as soon as you step out of your front door. It sounds interesting but will commuters use this system and will the present operators of these services buy into the scheme?
FM4 / Alex Wagner
I spoke with Sonja Heikkilä, a transportation engineer, who’s Master's Thesis, commissioned by the city of Helsinki, addressed many of these questions:
The city of Helsinki believes in a new model of transportation in the future. Tell me very basically what is this going to entail?
We are combining separate services into one comprehensive supply. It’s provided to customers by mobile operators. This includes traditional public transport but also any other services as well, such as car-sharing, car-rental, city bikes or taxis. And customers can use any of these services and pay for them through their mobile operators.
So if I come to Helsinki and I want to get from A to B, how will I do it in the future, rather than just getting into my car or stepping onto a bus and buying a ticket?
The system will work out the best way for you to make your journey. You input your preferences and then you get the options to travel in the best (and most direct) way.
Is there much evidence to suggest this is what people want?
There is evidence from an altering mindset of people that results from social changes. Younger people have different preferences in the way they want to live compared to their parents or earlier generations. And they also have different requirements in all parts of life which is also reflected in transportation. For example, younger people want to be connected at all times and they also value convenience and spontaneity. In being more familiar with technology, they expect systems to work well.
What about the notion of a car as a status symbol?*
Formerly, car ownership suggested wealth and was indeed a status symbol. However the percentage share of younger people acquiring driving licenses for a car is decreasing. Maybe the new status symbol for the younger generation is to be connected continuously. And the best way to do this is through (efficient use of) public transport and cars. In fact one of the main aims of this project is to increase the usage of a car whilst decreasing the ownership of a car.
What’s wrong with buying a single or a monthly or annual season ticket or getting in the car sitting outside your house or flat?
At the moment, public transport doesn’t fulfill everyone’s needs and therefore people feel they need to own a car. However, cars are only used 5% of the time. The city of Helsinki is significantly growing and we cannot afford to have more cars coming into the city. So we want public transport to be more sustainable.
Will there be resistance from those who operate the trams and buses?
I don’t think so since this new idea promotes the idea of all kinds of services and therefore it will increase the revenues of those travel operators.