How will you be able to get to the city centre from Lauttasaari if you don't want to use the metro? How, for example, will you be able to go from Katajaharju to Erottaja?
The majority of direct bus lines between Lauttasaari and the centre of Helsinki will be withdrawn once the west metro is complete. Current thinking is for connecting services at Lauttasaari to be formed by three lines terminating at Lauttasaari metro station, with convenient access to the station platform. To go from Katajaharju to Erottaja, you should either change buses in Lauttasaari or transfer from a bus to the metro and take the metro to Rautatientori. Once the metro extension is complete, one of the Lauttasaari buses will continue to run into the city centre. At this point of the planning process no decisions have been made on which bus line will continue to the city centre, its route or where it will terminate. Final decisions on the feeder lines and their routes will be made by Helsinki City Transport closer to the date when traffic is set to begin. The interval of metro trains will be 2.5 minutes during rush hour and 5 minutes during the day. There will no longer be buses from Espoo to Helsinki through Lauttasaari; regional bus lines will be changed to feeder lines operating to Matinkylä or Tapiola, from where Espoo residents will continue their journey to Helsinki using the metro.
Why is it planned that the feeder buses in Lauttasaari will operate along Gyldenintie, which is quite narrow, instead of Särkiniementie?
The objective is for feeder traffic to pass as close to the station entrances as possible. This can be observed in the feeder traffic line map.
How will you be able to get to the city centre from Lauttasaari if you don't want to use the metro? How, for example, will you be able to go from Katajaharju to Erottaja?
According to current plans one bus line will remain in operation from Lauttasaari (Vattuniemi) to the city centre (Erottaja). Other buses currently operating from Katajaharju and Vattuniemi to the city centre (e.g. line 20) will terminate at Lauttasaari metro station, with smooth access to the platform.
The interval of metro trains will be 2.5 minutes during rush hour and 5 minutes during the day. There will no longer be buses from Espoo to Helsinki through Lauttasaari; regional bus lines will be changed to feeder lines operating to Matinkylä or Tapiola, from where Espoo residents will continue their journey to Helsinki using the metro.
To go from Katajaharju to Erottaja, you should either change buses in Lauttasaari or transfer from a bus to the metro and take the metro to Rautatientori.
The metro to Lauttasaari will be a good thing, but the shopping centre where the station is to be located is a long way away for many people. A lot of the senior citizens have moved to the southern part of the island, where the new buildings have been designed to comply with new accessibility standards. It would be extremely desirable to have a direct line to the city.
Three bus lines are in the plans for Lauttasaari. The buses would stop at both metro station entrances (Gyldenintie and shopping centre). According to current plans, two of the lines would operate from Vattuniemi to the shopping centre (one along the western and one along the eastern shore). One of them would continue to Ruoholahti and further towards the centre.
Bus connections from Haukilahti to Niittykumpu would surely be faster than the proposed route to congested Tapiola or a route "backwards" to Matinkylä.
The planning of bus traffic for Espoo is the responsibility of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council, which is drafting a survey of the feeder line network. In Helsinki this task belongs to Helsinki City Transport. The time span for route planning is three to five years, i.e. routes are constantly being developed to best meet the needs of the users.
How many parking spaces will there be at different stations? I saw mention of parking facilities for 300 cars at Niittymaa and Matinkylä. Do you really think that will be enough? The use of public transport could be promoted with functional park and ride facilities.
The primary objective is for people to use feeder connections to reach the stations. In addition, park and ride facilities will be provided at each station. The number of parking spaces to be constructed is limited not only by construction costs but also by the space available and surrounding land use.
The number of parking spaces at Matinkylä and Jousenpuisto stations seems quite small. Would it be possible increase it?
Parking arrangements larger in scale than proposed in the designs are possible for both stations. The issue is ultimately one of financing.
Since not everyone works in the centre of Helsinki I hope that bus connections from Espoo via Munkkiniemi will remain operational. How will the metro affect these lines? A lot of people from Espoo work in that direction, for example, in hospitals and schools, and we also go to Seurasaari.
The so-called 500 series buses towards Munkkiniemi will continue in service.
Will direct bus lines from central Espoo to Kamppi also be withdrawn once the metro is complete?
The metro will affect lines going to Kamppi along the Western Motorway. These will be changed to feeder lines to Matinkylä and Tapiola. The metro will mean the end of direct bus lines from southern Espoo to southern Helsinki.
How big and well-equipped will the bicycle parking facilities be? They would not be expensive to build but all the more recommendable from the point of view of the environment and national health.
Bicycle parking facilities will be designed for all metro stations, and their measurements will allow later expansion where necessary. Cycling is an excellent mode of feeder traffic.
Could some of the bicycle parking facilities be built in "supervised indoor areas"? This would reduce the risk of vandalism and would keep the bicycles dry in case of rain. This would only take up a few car parking spaces.
The objective is for the placement of park and ride facilities for bicycles to make feeder traffic by bicycle an attractive and convenient feeder traffic alternative.