Skip to main content

Swedish public transport map asks people to walk instead

Västtrafik creates new route map detailing how many footsteps are between stops
By Adam Hill July 1, 2020 Read time: 1 min
Västtrafik's new 'walking' map of Gothenburg (credit: Forsman & Bodenfors)

A public transport company in the city of Gothenburg, Sweden, is asking travellers to walk rather than take its buses and trams.

To promote social distancing and to ease overcrowding, Västtrafik has produced a new version of its map showing the number of steps between bus and tram stops in the city - calling it "a simple reminder that distances are actually quite short in the city centre".

“If more people have the possibility to walk instead of taking the bus or tram in Gothenburg, we encourage that," said Lars Backström, CEO of Västtrafik. 

"That way we make it safer for those who really need to use public transport."

The company says that people are already choosing alternatives to public transport post-Covid, taking the bus or cycling to work. 

More than 30% claim they walk more now compared to before the pandemic, it adds.

The new map is featured in print adverts and on billboards as part of an initiative created by Forsman & Bodenfors.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • UITP Summit 2023: Public transport must make itself more 'attractive'
    June 6, 2023
    Need to make riders give up their cars - and to be seen as secure job for workers
  • Are road user charging systems too complicated?
    February 27, 2012
    At any conference or exhibition, it tends to be the ad libs and asides, the departures from the scripted or official lines, which are the most telling. In mid-February, ITS-UK's Road User Charging Interest Group met in London. The event was no exception to that statement. Keith Mortimer, the Group's chairman, and his colleagues put together one of the better programmes on charging and tolling that I've seen in recent years. Sadly, however, the very positive presentations on deployments and technological pro
  • Finland to become a model country for sustainable transport by 2020
    June 18, 2014
    Finland’s technical research centre’s (VTT) TransSmart vision of a model country for sustainable transport throws the spotlight on efficiency – in vehicles, systems, and services. It says transport will be a fusion of sustainable energy sources, advanced technology, safety, high service levels, mobility alternatives and new ways of operating. According to VTT, Finland in 2020 will use low-emission vehicles running on renewable energy, electricity, hydrogen and sustainable bio-fuels. The share of public t
  • Building back better after Covid-19
    February 17, 2021
    The Canadian Urban Transit Association has looked carefully at what’s required to put public transportation on a firm footing post-Covid: here are a few of the group’s recommendations…