Park-and-ride
The situational picture of park-and-ride provides information about government funding for and the development needs of park-and-ride at the national level and the state of development in LHT urban regions in Finland. The situational picture is updated twice a year. The information is produced by the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom. The information is part of the strategic situational picture of the Finnish transport system.
Park-and-ride systems are developed in regional cooperation
Park-and-ride systems allow for passengers to park their cars and bicycles close to public transport operating points. These systems are usually organised by public entities, such as municipalities. Companies operate park-and-ride systems, but do not decide prices or terms of use in these cases. Park-and-ride system areas are located at stations and near stops, meaning that they are often located on property owned by municipalities or the state, but also on private land upon separate agreement, such as shopping centre parking areas.
The development of park-and-ride areas is based on regional planning and cooperation, but individual development needs can also arise in connection with land use and transport projects:
- The development needs of park-and-ride systems are identified as part of regional transport system work, e.g. as part of urban area or regional transport system work (node parking and park-and-ride system reports).
- The development of park-and-ride systems in areas covered by land use, housing and transport agreements (MAL areas) is often recorded in agreements between the state and the municipalities in the urban area.
- ELY Centres play a key role in determining the park-and-ride needs in node parking areas in the state-owned highway network.
- In addition to this, park-and-ride needs may arise in connection with station area development.
Urban MAL areas are at very different stages in terms of planning for and implementing regional park-and-ride systems. The Helsinki Region Transport area (HSL) and the Tampere region (Pirkanmaa) are the furthest along in regional development.
MAL AREAS AND THE STATUS OF REGIONAL PARK-AND-RIDE PLANNING
Helsinki region | The operational programme from 2017, which will be updated in spring 2022 according to the initial plan; some sites have also been identified in MAL planning, steered by the HSL area park-and-ride cooperation group. |
Tampere region | The work on the 2040 goal state of the City of Tampere park-and-ride system (Tampereen kaupungin liityntäpysäköinnin tavoitetila 2040) and the supplementing plan aimed at implementing a park-and-ride system was completed in 2021. Steered by the urban area transport system work group and regional park-and-ride cooperation group. |
Turku region | Park-and-ride areas were addressed in the TUSEPY project completed in 2021 (Turun seudun joukkoliikenteen vaihtopaikat, liityntä- ja solmupysäkit, sekä liikennevaloetuudet (Turku region public transport interchanging places, park-and-ride systems and node parking as well as transit signal priorities for public transport)). Development in the Turku region is carried out in the Turku region transport system work group in cooperation between the association and the ELY Centre. |
Oulu region | No separate park-and-ride system report, but the issue has been processed in the Oulu region main stop report (Oulun seudun pääpysäkkiselvitys). Bicycle park-and-ride system development needs, in particular, have been identified. Park-and-ride systems included as a theme in several groups/projects. |
Lahti region | The areas have been mapped in terms of bus transport in the region in 2021, the remaining new park-and-ride needs have been mapped in a work that will be completed in early 2022 (MAL measure). The park-and-ride theme will be processed in the regional public transport cooperation group and the Päijät-Häme transport system group. |
Jyväskylä region | The regional planning of the Jyväskylä region park-and-ride system has been implemented as part of the Central Finland park-and-ride strategy publication (Keski-Suomen liityntäpysäköinnin strategia), which was completed in 2021. Drafting the report was also a MAL measure. In addition to this, a bicycle park-and-ride system report was drafted for the Jyväskylä core urban region (Jyväskylä, Laukaa and Muurame) in 2019. The park-and-ride theme will be discussed in the MAL cooperation group and the Central Finland transport system work group. |
Kuopio region | No regional plan, isolated areas identified. Park-and-ride systems included as a theme in several groups/projects. |
Government funding for park-and-ride systems
The Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency is in charge of park-and-ride system development and funding in the route network. ELY Centres develop and fund park-and-ride sites in the highway network in cooperation with municipalities. The development and funding of park-and-ride systems on stations is the shared responsibility of the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency and municipalities. Traficom may participate in funding municipal bicycle park-and-ride projects, if municipalities apply for discretionary government transfers from the investment programme for walking and cycling. The application process has been provided each year since 2018.
According to the Transport 12 plan, the role of the government in funding park-and-ride systems will be increased as part of promoting sustainable transport, which would for the first time allocate government funds for the development of park-and-ride systems.
- From 2022 onwards, the government (the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency) will reserve an annual 2–5 million euros of basic route maintenance funding for the development of park-and-ride system projects connected to the state-owned route network.
- The government (the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency) will direct 10 million euros a year (a total of EUR 30 million) to the development of park-and-ride areas in the street network in 2025–2027. Some of the aid will be allocated to larger urban areas and new MAL regions. The prerequisite for the discretionary government transfer would be a proportion of internal financing from municipalities.
The government will participate in municipal park-and-ride projects within budget funding each year, which is why the amount of the government contribution has varied year by year.
The number of park-and-ride projects funded through Traficom’s investment programme and the number of projects participating in the application process for the grants, in particular, has varied each year.
- A total of nine projects with elements of park-and-ride system development received Traficom funding in the 2020 round. At least half a million euros of government grants were awarded to park-and-ride system development, although not all costs related to park-and-ride systems could be itemised. In the 2018 and 2019 application rounds, three projects with elements of bicycle park-and-ride system development received funding in both years.
- The 2021 application round for the investment programme for walking and cycling will be awarding a total of EUR 28.5 million in grants to municipalities. Three million of this grant has been reserved for application by municipalities in the Jyväskylä, Lahti and Kuopio urban areas in accordance with the MAL agreements. The decisions have not been drafted as of yet.
The Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency funds park-and-ride systems through three channels. The funding proposed from Transport 12 is new. There are efforts to raise the planning readiness of ELY Centre highway sites, leading to promotion of the projects. Park-and-ride systems in stations will be implemented in connection with development projects and as joint projects with municipalities. An estimated EUR 1.5–2 million will be used on highway and railway network park-and-ride systems in 2022.
Key park-and-ride system development needs
The most important park-and-ride system development needs are located in urban areas and key train stations for long-distance transport.
- Park-and-ride systems supporting local transport (park-and-ride systems for urban lines and car traffic, urban and local railway transport and the metro). The greatest pressure to add park-and-ride systems is in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area and the Tampere region. Park-and-ride systems to support local transport are only in their infancy in other larger urban areas.
- Park-and-ride systems supporting long-distance railway transport. The greatest pressure to add park-and-ride systems is in the largest stations / travel centres in terms of numbers of passengers and junction stations (class K1) as well as in smaller stations with excellent highway connections collecting park-and-ride passengers from a large area. Due to land use development in larger stations, park-and-ride systems will be made structural. Long-distance bus transport will be supported with small-scale park-and-ride areas located along the main road network.
- Developing park-and-ride systems in regional cooperation is only starting in many urban areas. The HSL area has worked in close cooperation on this for a long time. Regional level planning and implementation in the Tampere and Turku regions are under way. The MAL agreements in Lahti and Jyväskylä have identified a need for a review of the situation. Regional planning is the basis for a shared ambition, clear responsibilities and principles concerning division of costs.
- The focal point of developing park-and-ride systems in the largest urban areas is in developing park-and-ride systems for bicycles. The number and quality of the parking places no longer meet the demand in many park-and-ride areas.
- The service level of park-and-ride systems should be increased, incl. visibility, safety, effortlessness and charging stations. Street-level parking will be reduced in areas near stations due to developments in land use, which increases the need for more costly parking facilities.
- Compiling park-and-ride information into a digital format (location, number of places, restrictions) and offering the information to the passengers. Public transport journey planners offer information on park-and-ride systems to passengers in the HSL and Tampere regions. On a national scale, information concerning park-and-ride systems is poorly available and people feel unsure about the information that is available in terms of e.g. payment procedures. Park-and-ride information should be made nationally available in a digital, harmonised format. Digital information is a prerequisite for integrating park-and-ride systems in other services.
- Government aid for park-and-ride systems in the street network according to the Transport 12 plan as of 2025 is very welcome from the point of view of the MAL regions. Urban areas have sites for park-and-ride systems for cars, especially along tram and trunk bus routes, that are ineligible for government grants through the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency / ELY Centres.