Autumn has arrived and everyday life begins again. Cold weather and return to work or school also means that our mobility habits change from how we moved during the holidays. Covid restrictions are mostly gone from the Helsinki region, but the pandemic has left its mark on how we move about. In order to improve its service, Whim sent out an annual survey to find out more about its users’ travel habits. The results show especially that the users want to continue hybrid work and choose between the office or school and home as well as the intention to increase the use of public transport and use private cars less.
The survey was sent out in the Helsinki region and Turku in Finnish and in English, and it received 451 responses.
No place like home (or office)
51% of the users say they have worked or studied regularly both at home and at the office or school. Only 15% say they have been exclusively at home and only about six percent say they will stay at home in August-September as well. Compared to last year’s results, the amount of users working exclusively from home was cut in half in both cases. Majority of the users (56%) intend to divide their time between home and office or school in August-September instead of working exclusively from home or going to the office or school every day. It can be assumed that the popularity of hybrid work and studying will continue to increase. After all, freedom to choose how and when we travel does ease up the other challenges of everyday life. The possibility to decide where you work or study will most likely show also in the change of people’s travel habits, for example if it is economically sound to continue to have and maintain your own car when its use is constantly decreasing.
On the road with public transport
Return to schools and offices also shows when asked about the modes of mobility. Change in the use of different modes is clearly on the horizon, and especially micromobility options – such as e-scooters and city bikes – will naturally decrease as the weather gets more chilly. But over half of the users, 51%, say they are planning to increase the use of public transport. Majority of the respondents in the Helsinki region also plan to use the HSL 30 Day Ticket especially, which tells about plans to use public transport quite regularly. Respondents also prefer the single tickets, but only 4% say they would use the Ten Ticket regularly.
The decrease in the use of private cars can also be seen in the responses. About half of the users plan to continue the use of their own car as usual, but 42% plan to decrease the use to some extent or a lot. As hybrid work becomes more popular, a private car may not be used as much and the users look for new ways to move about. When asked about Whim services, the respondents especially prefer the ability to use multiple modes of transport as well as see different route options on the same app.
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