Travellers in Helsinki region combine different modes of transport

New data analysis in Finland shows that micromobility bundles have increased the use of public transport. According to data analysis conducted by Voi and Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) provider Whim, people like to combine e-scooters and other micromobility options with public transport to get around. The data was discussed at ITS European Congress in Toulouse, May 30 – June 1, 2022, in the panel “Mind the gap – perceived value of MaaS vs car ownership”.

Adding our scooters to the mobility app Whim in 2021 has made building your own type of travel chains much easier, allowing you to choose the modes, route and time you travel. In turn, 30 and 60 minute bundles have increased the sale of public transport tickets among Whim users in the Helsinki region by 3.3% between July and October 2021. So the first and last mile problem – or how to tackle the last part of your journey from station to home– could well be solved with Mobility-as-a-Service solutions that help you plan, book and pay for the trips. Users have asked for bundles that combine public transport and micromobility, and Whim has responded to these requests.

“With Whim, users can use several modes of mobility with one app, and so it is important that they can create travel chains that fit their needs. E-scooters especially are an effective way to solve the first and last mile problem. Being able to use Voi’s e-scooters on Whim and combine them with public transport has allowed our users to do this more easily and efficiently. The 30 and 60 minute Voi bundles have been a great addition and clearly something that responds to our users’ needs. Whim’s Ten + Voi 60 bundle has recently been launched and we will be adding more bundles soon,” says Jarkko Jaakkola, Area Manager Finland and Baltics at MaaS Global at Whim.

The Helsinki region has provided the perfect test bed for further improvement of what the two companies can do together. Today Voi can be used via Whim in Helsinki, Turku and Tampere, and the ongoing collaboration will make micromobility options and multimodal travel possible in other cities in the future.

According to the data analysis, multimodal travel in the Helsinki region is above average: 53% of Voi e-scooter rides are combined with public transport and, on Whim, about half of rides are combined with bikes. All in all during 2021, 2.8 million rides were made on Voi scooters. So, riders want to be multimodal and combine micromobility options with one another as well as with public transport.

We continue to work towards safe parking of our e-scooters by identifying hotspots through data analysis. In Helsinki these include the city centre, Aalto University, Etu-Töölö and Ruoholahti.