2011•18th ITS World CongressTransCoreITS AmericaERTICO - ITS EuropeITS Asia-PacificRequires access
New Technologies and Solutions for Flexible Passenger Transport in the City of Tampere, Finland
Pekka Eloranta, Laura Riihentupa
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Abstract
The new strategy “Finland’s Strategy for Intelligent Transport” published by the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications in early 2010 provides strategic guidelines and objectives for the future intelligent transport systems (ITS) and services in Finland. The strategy lists the main ITS development actions. One of the actions is to improve the conditions of activity for demand responsive public transport, especially in remote districts. This objective is also in line with the “ITS Action Plan for the City and Region of Tampere” that was also published by the City of Tampere in 2010. The plan also states that new kind of ordering systems and technologies should be developed both for demand responsive and conventional public transport. There is a new regional transport planning system that includes mobility management and ITS related issues. There have been two development projects that support and relate to them: TAPPARA - Teisko-Aitolahti Public Passenger Transport and VIBOR - Virtual Button Ordering. Both of these projects have been part of the activities carried out in the Co-operative Traffic ICT (CT ICT) program coordinated by the TIVIT (the Strategic Center for Science, Technology and Innovation in the Field of ICT). This paper describes these two projects, their objectives, results, impacts and future plans. The projects states that by developing public transport, improving electronic services and increasing the efficiency of public chartered transport, municipalities can influence both transport demand and transport mode selection. It also emphasizes that real-time public transport information helps travelers to choose the best transport mode to ensure they reach their destination at the desired time quickly and easily. Additionally it states that intelligent public transport systems ensure that the public transport vehicles stay on schedule, and electronic payment systems speed up travel and free up driver resources for actual driving.