European Green Capital - Lahti Summer Project - 2021
Sustainable Mobility
Have a BUS-y Week!
Project By - John Clarke, Michael Ekka, Arooj Humayun, Laura Tikkanen and Carolina Mac-Iver
Advisor - Markus Kretschmer
Do you solely rely on cars for your every transit?
Is the Public Transport Connectivity poor in your area?
Is bicycling a faster mode of transport?
Is it too far getting to a stop?
Do you feel you lost your connection to the outside world?
This Project aims to answer these questions and perhaps showcase the power of public transport in the realm of Lahti. A very basic example of route mapping showed us Why people choose to drive cars more in Lahti, than use Public Transport? Even Bicycles seem faster!!!. Is this probably why many people prefer private transport? The barrier is in how easy it has become to choose private modes over public transport!
Through this lens of looking at transit in Lahti, we choose 3 different pilot areas -with good, medium and bad connectivity,to see how we could improve upon the existing infrastructure and reduce this travel time!
Area 1. Ankkuri, Niemi and Mukkula are residentials areas in the northern part of the city, with good PT and bike routes.
Area 2. Karisto and Möysä are residentials areas in the Easter part of the city. Where the accessibility to this area is more by private car.
Area 3. Laune, Hennala and Karinkallio are the residentials areas in the southern part of the city with a good PT and good bike routes too.
Through our target areas, we must prove the value of using the bus to the people living there and encourage them to switch from using their cars to travel to the city centre. The participating candidates from each area fill out surveys as the plan and execute their commutes. Filling out this survey allows the city council to understand better what improvements need to be made along each bus route.
As you can see in our user flowchart, we have examples of a typical day of a commuter trying to get to work. We have different scenarios from taking the bus or train, driving, cycling and alternative forms of transportation. We have each step of a typical day from waking up followed by getting ready to eventually arriving at your place of work. As you can see from the graph, by taking the car instead of a bus the commuter is already two steps ahead of someone who is taking the bus. This is a clear and obvious reason as the commuter can easily drive from where they start off to the parking lot outside of their office and this is why more people want to use their cars. However, with the aim of our campaign we aim to encourage people to switch from using their cars to taking the bus.
This whole challenge is planned during the bus journey and also off the bus as well to keep the travelers engaged and entertained. Enjoy multiple services such as food, historical highlights and music on your transit! A pilot run for this is recommended with a strong focus on introducing the model to other localities based on its success. Experience and help reinvent Sustainable Mobility in Lahti with new and improved bio-fuel and electrically powered buses with added stops. Sustainable Transportation refers to any means of transportation that has a low impact on the environment. Sustainable transportation is also about balancing our current and future needs.
This includes walking, cycling, transit, carpooling, car sharing, and green vehicles. The goal of the event will be to enhance public understanding of sustainable mobility. Our main goal is to promote among the citizens of Lahti a higher reliance on public transport compared to their personal vehicles. This is your chance to voice your opinion of what needs to be changed in the public transport system in Lahti! Help make Lahtis future transport system fun, easy and cheap!
The BUS-Y Week not only entails bus rides but also information about routes. Frequently, it is observed that people are unaware of the perks of public transport. The BUS-Y week will work on filling that knowledge gap by allowing you to explore the city more in greater detail. So, why not explore the magic of Lahti for free? Enjoy music, learn and discover or taste local food! Explore the health benefits of travelling sustainably but also enjoying the journey.
Using LSL to plan local journeys will be recommended and information about existing tickets, prices and travel cards will also be imparted. Being part of memorable trips during the week will also contribute to improving the image of public transportation. Insights into the history and sustainability of buses and LSL will also be part of the trips as well.
Register now to participate in this Mobility Week, and remember to move sustainably and stay healthy!
Besides the challenge, we also want to offer Lahti citizens good memories and experiences from buses. These experiences are accessible during the whole week to all bus users, so why wouldn't you just hop on?
First of all, we want you to explore your own hometown! You probably don't even know how many bus routes there are in Lahti and where they go. Now you have a good excuse to find it out. So take a bus and have a little adventure!
You´ll also have the opportunity to experience magical moments. We have several Magicians all over the city's bus stops who'll make your bus waiting as a magical moment. Maybe you'll step on the bus with a touch of magic with you?
And what about if you could hear live music on the bus? Lahti Symphony Orchestra is one of our partners, and who knows, you might end up listening to a violist during your bus trip.
What if you could travel like a star or maybe even become a star? Many famous Lahti people are hosting our campaign and will travel on the buses. Local newspaper is traveling with them and making stories of their trips. So maybe it's you who they´ll meet and you might end up the cover of the newspaper!
You can also learn something new. Did you know for example that vehicles can run on a variety of gases? Or that bus traffic began in Lahti in 1923? At the Lahti Transport Center, you´ll find an exhibition that tells the history of buses and different driving forces that can be used on buses.
Sometimes you might get hungry during the bus ride. But don´t worry! We have several sponsors who offer discount coupons for local restaurants. Bus drivers share coupons every day so have a chat with the driver and ask for a coupon!
And finally: you also get health benefits! Walking in the fresh air is good exercise so every time you walk to the bus stop you´ll get health benefits without even noticing it!
So give it a chance and have a BUS-y week instead of driving!
We have also come up with some strategies on how to make the event a success. Pre-marketing the event by Lahti city, as part of European Mobility Week on local and social media along with posters on public places will aid in attracting a crowd for the event. The sponsors can also contribute by giving discount/prizes to participants or organizing different performances. There is something in store for everyone! For every stratum of citizens that attend and participate, you get the benefit the Transport/City Council offers during and after this challenge!
From the surveys that could be undertaken post the challenge by the participants, one can identify and address the different problems many people face while utilizing public transport - including number of stops, frequency and volume of buses, first/last mile connectivity and more. This could also help garner interest from other regions, where people feel there is a need for some upgrades and how in small ways can the city affect changes and improvements in the mobility sector.
What does Lahti gain from this? Is this the solution to a problem? Looking at the collective impact such a challenge can bring, the city can be assured of future-proofing their mobility infrastructure through small pilot impacts. This ensures robust aids and services, a better and upgraded app interface, targeted interventions as suggested by participating regions, exposure valuation of alternative/new fuels/transport mode and in turn providing solutions towards first/last mile connectivity problems (more stops, more choices of modes, all-season routes and less wait times with more frequency).
With these ideas in mind, we aim that this challenge would further improve the mobility in Lahti from small scale interventions to larger scale applications, and in turn make it a more resilient and inclusive city.
