The City of Rauma is currently preparing a public transport discount campaign from 1 June to 31 July. During this period, Rauman Gyyt local transport could be used free of charge. The Technical Committee will discuss the matter at its meeting on Tuesday 2 May.
– The free-of-charge campaign is an experimental one. The campaign is intended to serve sustainable mobility for local residents and to attract new users of local transport, says Planning Manager Riikka Pajuoja.
The campaign will also increase the visibility and attractiveness of Rauma as a tourist destination. The free public transport services will make it easier to get to know the city area.
– There are usually fewer local transport users in summer than in winter. Summer school holidays, the holiday season for working people and weather suitable for cycling reduce the number of passengers using local transport. By making the summer period free of charge, we can also attract people on holiday to use local transport, says Pajuoja.
Rauman Gyyt will start operating summer timetables from 5 June. A paper timetable will be distributed to Rauma households on 24 May.
The free-of-charge trial planned for the summer season will only apply to the local Rauman Gyyt services, not to market services or Seutu+ services.
Passenger numbers are expected to increase
Between 2017 and 2019, the city’s public transport service was used by around 11 000 passengers in June and July. In the peak years 2020–2021 and last year, ridership has been lower.
– In January and February this year, around 31 000 journeys were made, and 25 000 in March. There has been a clear increase in passenger numbers. We expect summer usage to reach an estimated level between 2019 and 2020 because of the service level improvement. A free-of-charge campaign could increase summer usage again to almost 10 000 passengers, says Pajuoja.
To improve public transport in Rauma, a development study was carried out in spring 2022 with the aim of improving sustainable mobility and the service level of public transport in the Rauma area. The study recommended discount campaigns to increase usage, the first of which was implemented in January 2023.