STUDIED EFFECTS OF SERVICELINES

The effects of servicelines were studied in Hyvinkaa, Jyvaskyla, Kangasala, Kuopio, Porvoo and Tornio. All together 91 passengers, six drivers and one assistant were interviewed. Questionnaires were sent to municipalities and traffic companies, which were defined for the municipalities by telephone-interviews. The passengers found the service of the drivers to be very good and thought that getting on and off the low-floorbuses was easy. For some people the servicebus has offered an additional alternative for travelling but for many it is the only economically possible mode of travel. The servicelines have facilitated almost every user's mobility and running of errands. Over 50% told that it had also increased their mobility. Especially the possibilities to travel for elderly and disabled people can be cheaper arranged by servicelines for bigger groups than individual transports. At the same time public transport demand can be complemented especially in areas of scattered settlement. Servicelines support the independent initiatives and quality of life for elderly people. This way they decrease the need for running of errands by the visiting nurses and prevent at the same time the need for hospital- and institutional care. In the long run servicelines cause savings to other costs of the social- and health care sector. The most significant savings have been gained by servicelines in medium-sized and big cities, where individual transports conceded by law to elderly and disabled persons have been transfered to servicelines. In small municipalities costs have been saved by combining transports of different administrations and by using the fleet also in other transports of the municipality. In order to make the servicelines self-supporting there should be two or three times more passengers in the servicelines operating in bigger cities. On the other hand the servicelines open to all would not cause any additional costs to society, if there were one or two persons with the right to use individual taxis payed by society on each departure. An average of 13-17 passengers a day with the right to use taxis would be enough to cover the costs of the serviceline.