How to increase the market share of public transportation? Experiences from the city of Göteborg.

Abstract: The paper focuses on measures for a process of increasing the market share of public transportation in the case of the city of Göteborg. Based on a general discussion of the question how people behave in terms of traveling by public transportation or car and the theoretical framework sorting different groups of measures of push and pull factors, a presentation of the use of measures in the case of the city of Göteborg leads to the development of possible first steps. Literature about travel behavior in theory and case studies offers background for concepts for reducing car use like Motility and Travel Demand Management as well as for the concept of push and pull factors. Interviews made with experts working with public transportation in the city of Göteborg help to get an overview of several opinions about the implementation of different groups of measures. The main findings are the strengths and weaknesses of the key theoretical issues as well as the experience already made with projects for increasing market share of the city of Göteborg. When being aware of the findings, one can conclude that the communication and cooperation among others between institutions and organizations has to get intensified to increase the market share of public transportation in the case of the city of Göteborg. Moreover for a successful process it is necessary to minimize the lack of research and the policy has to consist of both soft and hard measures of push and pull factors as the combination includes more target groups and matches the reality of practice.