Helsinki area bus companies struggle to meet obligations on regional services
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Thousands of public transport passengers in the greater Helsinki region have been suffering from gaps in bus service. The bus companies, and the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council (YTV) have received complaints that buses frequently do not show up as scheduled, and that when one finally does, it is often overcrowded.
In spite of repeated calls by YTV to rectify the situation, the bus companies which have contracts with YTV to operate regional routes in Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, and Kauniainen, have not managed to rectify the situation.
The most serious problems have been with Helsingin Bussiliikenne, which missed 1,125 scheduled departures on its regional bus lines from the beginning of this year through the end of September. The situation was most difficult in the summer, when more than 400 departures that the company was responsible for, were cancelled in June and July.
The combined length of the routes on the departures that failed to materialise was 18,852 kilometres. The shortfall means that the company has lost EUR 113,000 in revenue.
Helsingin Bussiliikenne has had to pay fines of more than EUR 3,000 for the cancellations.
Niilo Järviluoma, head of transport at YTV, admits that the monetary sanctions have not had the desired effect.
He says that the next time that the transport contracts are open for bidding by the bus companies, YTV will reassess the monetary penalties, possibly double them.
Helsingin Bussiliikenne has also had difficulties in getting the necessary vehicles for all of its routes. The wrong types of vehicles have sometimes been used, and at other times drivers have driven the wrong routes, completely bypassing some of the scheduled stops.
YTV relies largely on passenger complaints to keep tabs on the quality of service provided by the transport companies, but it is also able to monitor compliance through the electronic ticket system, and with the help of its 15 ticket inspectors.
Järviluoma says that YTV still plans to hire two people this year to monitor the quality of regional public transport.
The bus companies that operate YTV bus routes are obligated to report shortcomings. If the company is caught for neglecting to inform YTV about failing to run a specific departure, it simply loses the monetary compensation that it was due. Järviluoma does not believe that there would be widespread abuse of this.
"I don’t believe that the companies are withholding information. It is serious if reports are not made as required by the contract. At least as far as I known, this has not happened", he says.
"However, we can never manage to follow every single bus", Järviluoma adds.
Attempts have been made to rectify the situation. Mika Seppänen, head of transport at Helsingin Bussiliikenne, says that the shortage of drivers has eased since the summer, and new people have been recruited. Nearly 100 new drivers have been hired by the company during the autumn.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 30.10.2006 - TODAY |
 Helsinki area bus companies struggle to meet obligations on regional services
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