Ten years from now, transportation in Helsinki may operate very differently from the current system.
The service will be run by transportation operators, through which the regular citizen can buy all they want with a click. This does not only entail public transportation within the city, but also carpool, taxi, a train ticket to Tampere or parking fees in the city centre.
Few want to own their own car in future, when everything can be shared. If one wishes to travel from Puotila to Pukinmäki, the "route planner" of 2025 will provide information on where to change the city bike for a car due to impending rain, in addition to information on the fastest connection.
The City of Helsinki believes in the model so strongly that it plans to test it at the turn of the year with a few major employers in Vallila. Employers are being persuaded to join in by building a platform that enables employees to buy transportation services with their own funds.
Later, the experiment will also cover Kalasatama, or another new area.
The near future is surveyed more extensively in a fresh Master's Thesis commissioned by the city from Sonja Heikkilä.
A transportation engineer, Heikkilä states that young Helsinki residents view transportation differently from their parents.
"A car is no longer a status symbol for young people," Heikkilä states. On the other hand, they are more adamant in demanding simple, flexible and inexpensive transportation.
Heikkilä studied the telecommunications industry as an example of how services could be provided in a way that differs from the current model.
>> Read the full article on the Helsinki Times.