Recent Traffic Barometer shows that 63% of Espoo residents are very or fairly satisfied with the city’s transport system
According to the Traffic Barometer published in December 2024, Espoo residents are quite satisfied with the transport system in their city. A total of 63% of respondents feel that the city’s transport system as a whole works very or fairly well. The percentage of respondents who consider the transport system to be very good has increased.
The survey, which is carried out every four years, examines people’s views on the conditions of the different modes of transport in Espoo and how the way people move around has changed or is changing.
A total of 22% of respondents estimated that they had increased their use of public transport in the last year, which is 4% more than the percentage of those who had decreased their use of public transport. The percentage of people who have increased walking is up to 26% higher than that of people who have decreased walking. The percentage of people who have increased cycling was the same as the percentage of those who have decreased cycling.
As the city grows, the number of people moving increases. In fact, 94% of respondents are in favour of developing public transport. 87% are in favour of improving the conditions for cycling.
Increase in the percentage of people using public transport
Public transport is used weekly by 56% of respondents. This is five percentage points more than in the previous survey. In contrast, the percentage of respondents who travel by car on a weekly basis has decreased by five percentage points and now stands at 78%.
When it comes to travel habits, 67% of respondents have to travel more than five kilometres to their daily activity, such as their place of work or study. Daily journeys are most often made by car (41%) or public transport (37%).
Efforts are being made to promote cycling
More than half of Espoo residents cycle in summer. According to the survey, 54% of respondents cycle between May and September and 15% in winter. The percentage of people who cycle weekly is almost the same as in the previous survey in 2020.
Several efforts are being made to improve the cycling conditions in Espoo. The cycling promotion programme is currently being updated, and a related survey was carried out in late 2024. The work will be completed in early 2025. The main goal of the cycling promotion programme is that cycling in Espoo is attractive and safe for everyone. Read more about the work on the cycling promotion programme in our news article.
Traffic in Espoo flows smoothly and is safe
The Traffic Barometer also looks at traffic flow and safety. According to the survey, 63% of respondents considered public transport to be smooth or fairly smooth, which is 11 percentage points more than in the previous survey.
A total of 78% (up by six percentage points) considered car travel to be very smooth or fairly smooth. 65% of cyclists (down by two percentage points) and 82% of pedestrians (down by two percentage points) found traffic to be very or fairly smooth.
The survey also shows that traffic safety is at a very good level. As many as 90% of motorists considered traffic to be safe or fairly safe (down by one percentage point). The corresponding percentage for cyclists was 83% (up by four percentage points) and for pedestrians 93% (down by one percentage point).
Positive and negative feedback
The respondents also gave a lot of feedback on issues related to transport in the city. In total, 401 open responses were received. The respondents, for example, expressed their wish for direct bus routes and their irritation at the impact of the arrival of the metro on journey times as well as the slowness of feeder traffic and the number of transfers.
Feedback was also received about the poor conditions of bicycle and pedestrian paths and the lack of winter maintenance. Motorists highlighted the lack of parking spaces and the high cost of parking as well as the lack of speed control and traffic discipline. With regard to traffic safety, the respondents highlighted issues such as speeding and breaking traffic rules. The impacts of construction and roadworks on traffic were also a source of irritation for the respondents.
There was also plenty of positive feedback. The respondents most praised the good conditions of bicycle and pedestrian paths. They were also satisfied with public transport in their home city. The metro and rail transport investments also received praise.
The Traffic Barometer 2024 survey(external link, opens in a new window) can be found on our website (in Finnish).
The survey was carried out by Feelback Research Services / Innolink by commission of the City of Espoo. The survey was responded to by a total of 1,004 Espoo residents between 30 August and 2 November 2024.