In 10 Years, No One In Helsinki Will Even Want to Own a Car: 3 Simple Ideas That Are Making ........

[marmar]

.......Cities Sustainable


from YES! Magazine:



1. A Bus That Will Pick You Up Anywhere in the City With the Use of a Smartphone App.

in: Helsinki

By 2025, public transportation in Helsinki will be so good that no one living in the city will have any reason to own a car.

That’s the goal the city announced earlier this year, and Helsinki is serious about it. The Helsinki Regional Transport Authority is piloting an on-call minibus service called Kutsuplus. The service uses an algorithm and a smartphone app to combine the affordability of ride sharing with the on-call service of a taxi.

Riders hail buses on a smartphone; an automated system routes and reroutes the fleet to create the most efficient service for patrons heading in the same direction. It’s cheaper than a taxi and more convenient than a bus.

Free wi-fi and storage for bikes or strollers are included, too. Compared with traffic jams, parking fees, and car maintenance, on-demand public transit in Helsinki is looking pretty good. ....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/cities-are-now/in-10-years-no-one-in-helsinki-will-even-want-to-own-a-car

[NV Whino]

1. And the U.S. Will lag forty years behind.

[central scrutinizer]

2. Naw, we are cutting edge

Look how smoothly and quickly we adopted the metric system and how little resistance there was to the phasing out of the dollar bill and the penny.

[NV Whino]

3. But at least we drive (in our behemoths) on the right side of the road

[AlbertCat]

5. And the U.S. Will lag forty years behind.

All you have to do to know this is true is get caught at a RR crossing....


....as the creaking, lumbering graffiti covered 50 year old box cars slowly roll by.... you'd think it was 1950. I'll bet they are the SAME box cars I saw as a kid.

Creeeeeeeek..clunk clunk.....

[cstanleytech]

12. Try closer to +100. nt

[jwirr]

4. That may work in cities but we are a long way from having a system like that in the rural areas.

NE MN has tried to develop such a system and it works pretty good for those of us who ride it but that is the problem - people like their freedom.

The bus service I am speaking of has buses that actually go door to door in our small towns. They also have weekly times when they take people to Duluth from the small cities and pick up riders in the country if they can. They also schedule pickups in outlying areas once a week to come into town. A great service for the elderly, disabled, and those who do not drive anymore, especially in the winter.

The drawback is that often you have to wait and/or ride for a while as the bus makes its rounds. I am stuck in the house most of the time so I actually like the ride.

[HappyMe]

6. Yeah, the idea in the OP won't work everywhere.

Dragging a bunch of bags of groceries on the bus is no fun.

[jwirr]

7. I agree. I often get a ride to the store and then have some of my family pick me up to take me

home. One thing I do though is that I still buy for the month as much as I can. Then when I go later in the month I only have one or two bags.

[HappyMe]

8. We try to not let the cupboard get too bare,

but it happens. You can wait for a bus here for an hour if you miss it.

[jwirr]

10. I always bring a book or a crossword puzzle to do. This kind of waiting only works with those of us

who are free to wait that long. Luckily our system recognizes that getting to work or a doctors appointment are priorities. That works in a small system but I can see it would never work in a city were impatience and tempers tend to rule.

[KamaAina]

9. What'll happen when the Google car gets thrown into the mix?

No one in any urban or suburban area will want to own a car! (except maybe Jay Leno )

[olddots]

11. convenience will become very inconvenient

Other than that we are doomed.

[One_Life_To_Give]

13. Where will we get race car drivers if Fin's stop driving?

To quote Jeremy Clarkson, "If you want to win, hire a Fin"

[hunter]

14. I'm looking forward to the end of the automobile age.

It will be a consequence of several forces, good and bad.

Bad: Workers who simply don't make enough money to own or maintain cars.

Good: More efficient cities with lots of local shopping, wireless "on demand" public transportation including self-driving cars, increasing use of more traditional forms of transportation such as bus or light rail...

Cities with desirable non-automobile functionality will become much more attractive to young people and innovative businesses, automobile-based cities will rust.

It's already happening in some places.