Why Sweden has the highest public transport mode share in western Europe and what Scotland might be able to learn from this

Rye, Tom

Abstract

This paper first carries out some comparative analysis of travel survey data from different EU countries that collect such data, and in particular at the share of trips made by public transport. This analysis reveals that Sweden has the highest share of all, whilst maintaining an above average share of trips on foot and by bike. The paper then goes on to examine some of the reasons for this based on information gathered and observed by the author during his time working in Sweden, as well as based on statistical information available from different national statistical organisations. The paper will examine the effect of factors such as the organisation of PT in Sweden, levels and methods of financing of PT in Sweden compared to other EU countries, demographics and levels of urbanisation, car ownership, comparative costs of car and public transport use, culture, way of life, and approach to innovation. Using a framework of policy transferability first put forward by Dolowitz and Marsh (2000), the transferability of Swedish experience to the Scottish context will then be analysed.

Citation

Rye, T. (2015, May). Why Sweden has the highest public transport mode share in western Europe and what Scotland might be able to learn from this. Paper presented at Scottish Transport Applications and Research Conference

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: Scottish Transport Applications and Research Conference
• Start Date: May 20, 2015
• End Date: May 20, 2015
• Deposit Date: Jun 15, 2017
• Keywords: Travel surveys, public transport,
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/947534