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

  • DSRC? ‘It’s become a faith-based thing’
    March 2, 2021
    The US FCC’s decision on 5.9GHz led to Applied Information offering DSRC buybacks to DoTs. Bryan Mulligan tells Adam Hill that we now just need to get on and roll out CV technology...
  • Why intersections have got smarter in Chattanooga
    March 13, 2023
    Tennessee city has joined the ranks of urban areas seeing the benefit of ITS technology, particularly Lidar, at smart intersections – with a little help from Seoul Robotics. Adam Hill dives into the detail
  • Vivacity Labs rolls out AI-controlled junctions 
    November 13, 2020
    Initiative in Manchester, UK, is designed to facilitate higher levels of non-vehicle movements
  • CCTV brings transit safety into view
    September 15, 2014
    David Crawford looks at camera-based vulnerable road users protection systems.Safe and efficient operation of road-based transit depends on minimising the risks of incidents involving other vehicles or vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and passengers boarding or alighting from buses or trams. The extent and quality of the visibility available to drivers is crucial in preventing and avoiding incidents. Conventionally, they have had to rely on fairly basic equipment - essentially the human