Title: Tools for promoting public transport. European examples
Abstract: In the future, steps must be taken to markedly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other problems caused by traffic. Public transport plays a major role in achieving targets set for this. Promotion of public transport is a long-term process with various components. The world contains many good examples of approaches to promoting public transport based, for example, on regional organization of public transport, attractive park-and-ride facilities, integrated ticketing systems, and branding of relevant services. Many of these examples are also easily applicable to Finland. This research paper considers promotional tools, through a few European examples. Prompted by the oil crisis of the early 1970s, as a tool for financing public transport the State of France gave its cities the right to collect a public transport tax from enterprises, amounting to 0.55–2.00 per cent of the company’s payroll expenses. By means of tax revenue ring-fenced for public transport, the state sought to stimulate investment in public transport. In this way it promoted the rapid development of public transport in large municipal areas in particular. This public transport tax now accounts for around 40–45 per cent of overall funding of public transport. Although the tax has attracted some criticism from the business world, from the state and municipality perspective it is indispensable to financing public transport and its development. In France, the state requires that each municipal area with more than 100,000 inhabitants draw up a plan for sustainable urban traffic, closely tied to environmental and emission-based targets. The primary aim of this is to reduce car traffic. Known as PDUs (Plans de Deplacements Urbains), these plans have had a major impact on the traffic policy of French cities. Growth in car traffic has been curbed, whereas use of public transport has substantially increased. Growth in overall passenger traffic mileage has also been successfully curbed. Switzerland applies an integrated ticket system, in which the passenger can buy a single ticket for the entire travel chain, even if he or she uses several transport operators and modes of public transport during a single journey. Approximately half of the Swiss people use public transport and a total of almost three million have travel cards based on the integrated ticket system. Transport operators find it profitable to belong to the ticket system. France has achieved good results by demanding effective and practical planning methods and providing financing tools. Examples from Switzerland show that development of joint ticketing systems and integrated ticket products is an important cornerstone in the provision of customer-oriented public transport. In the European advances examined for the purposes of this study, the underlying idea seems to be strong customer and resident-orientation. These steps forward are good examples of how the state can take the lead in promoting public transport.
Publication Year: 2012
Publication Date: 2012-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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