Socioeconomic characteristics, land use and travel patterns of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area

摘要

The major travel problems in the Helsinki area are related to the increase in car traffic and population. Proper coordination of land use and transportation plans is essential to accommodate the great increase in population in the following 20 years. According to the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Transportation System Plan 2020 the increase in radial travel to the city center is 20-25 % but on ring road I 40 % and on ring road III 135 %. Correspondingly the share of public transportation in trips to the city center is 52 % (motorized trips only) and on transverse directions 33-36 % only. Environmental problems caused by traffic are related to noise and emmissions. Noise barriers are under construction along the major roads, and many measures are taken to decrease the use of car and the level of emmissions. National air quality standards are usually exceeded only in winter time in certain weather conditions, and sometimes in the summer (ozone). Traffic safety in Helsinki is at a good Nordic level, but much can be done to make the traffic safer for the pedestrians. The promotion of public transportation has been a key element in the transportation policy in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area during the last 30 years. The high level of the usage of public transport has been achieved by strict parking policy in the city center, by prioritizing public transportation at traffic signals and by using bus and streetcar lanes and streets, and by investing in the development of rail traffic. According to the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Transportation System Plan 2020, about 92 million USD will be invested yearly in transportation system development in the area. These investments are divided about 50/50 between car traffic and public transportation. The cities also subsidize public transportation. In the city of Helsinki the subsidy is about 50 % of the operating costs including investments to rolling stock An important part of the policy to promote public transport is also the common fare and ticket system in the area including free transfer between the vehicles of different operators in the area. The present law about public transportation gives the communities the possibility to take full responsibility about the planning and operations of the public transportation in their area. This possibility has been used by the cities and the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council. The lesson to learn from the experiences of Helsinki is that promoting public transportation is a never-ending task where the coordination of land use and transportation planning is of vital importance. Simultaneously, the promotion of public transportation must have high priority in the short range planning of traffic operations and control, too. In this work, the support of politicians and the general public are of utmost importance. In Helsinki, this is mainly the case.