DETERMINING AND MEASURING THE LEVEL OF SERVICE IN PUBLIC TRANSPORT

The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that best suit the process of defining the level of service in the public transportation of the different municipalities in Finland. The municipalities were divided into nine different types using the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities classification criteria that takes into account the population, the level of self-sufficiency in employment, and the structure of the sources of livelihood. The factors that the different types of municipalities consider crucial when determining the level and setting the goals of service, were located through an analysis of the transportation system planning of the municipalities. The categorization used by the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities clarifies the need for travel in the different types of municipalities. As a result of dissimilar conditions in individual municipalities regarding the urbanization rate, the land use, the size of a municipality, and the frequency of cars, requirements for the operation of public transportation can vary a lot within the same category of municipalities. Thus, there is no use in determining detailed objectives that apply to all the municipalities belonging to the same category. Instead, this study aims at creating a recommendation for planning and monitoring the level of service. One major goal should be that the planning of the level of service in individual municipalities can rely on the established transportation policy, defined in the urban transportation sysem planning. At the very least, the regional public transportation plan should be formulated before the municipalities determine their level of service in detail. The strategy for developing public transportation and the determination of the general, regional level of service are set forth in the regional plan for public transportation. For a better monitoring of the level of service, an ADP tool should be developed to measure the materialization of the goals of service on different levels. On one hand, this tool would guide the Ministry of Transport and Communications in the task of developing and financing the level of service in national public transportation. On the other hand, the administrative districts would benefit from this tool when sharing the public finances among the different areas.