Transport Wolt driver Kwame received a handful of parking fines in just a month: “I have to park on the sidewalk”

Sedan stops behind another car on the sidewalk on Yrjönkatu in the heart of Helsinki. The driver leaves the parking lights on and the window open. He carries a bag that reads Wolt.

The parking lot is from Ghana Kwamewho says he is picking up a customer ‘s food order from the Forum shopping center.

“There are no parking spaces,” he justifies parking on the sidewalk.

Kwame only wants to perform under his first name for fear that talking about a parking problem will cause trouble. He says he has already received several comments from parking inspectors.

“In one month, I received three parking errors.”

The rationale has not saved from charges. According to Kwame, there is too little parking space in the center of Helsinki, and it usually only takes a few minutes to pick up food from restaurants.

In addition to the Forum environment, the worst places for the car-moving consignment are Kaivokatu and Kamppi Shopping Center, Kwame says.

“When there are no parking spaces, you have to park on the sidewalk and try not to block the whole road.”

Problem is familiar with food transport platform companies in Foodora and Wolt. The topic will receive feedback not only from customers but also from referrals. Customers are blocked by cars blocking sidewalks and bike paths. The messengers are annoyed by the lack of parking spaces.

Wolt’s Country Director for Finland Henrik Pankakoski considers that the core problem is that urban planning has not been able to anticipate the proliferation of various e-commerce transport and courier services.

“The service sector is growing all the time, which means there are more and more messengers on the move,” says Foodora’s Chief Operating Officer. Lauri Syvänen.

“It is important, for example, that urban planning takes into account a changing society. That could mean there are enough short-term parking spaces in the city. ”

According to Pankakoski and Syvänen, efforts have also been made to find solutions with shopping centers, and in some of the shopping centers, parking space has been reserved for consignments to pick up orders.

“We are trying to solve the problem so that we can provide these services and at the same time causes as little disruption as possible, ”says Pankakoski.

Both companies are said to work closely with, among others, city representatives.

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“It’s important that urban planning, for example, takes into account a changing society.”

Helsinki traffic and street planning manager Reetta Putkonen acknowledges that the city faces challenges in keeping up with the development of society.

“We want to live in time and meet the needs of the platform economy, but the pace of the platform economy is stronger than the city’s ability to regenerate the street environment.”

According to Putkonen, courier services have been taken into account in the city’s new parking policy, which was approved by the City Environment Board in May.

“In our parking policy, we have highlighted the efficient and useful use of the space next to the curb on the roadway. Its use can be made more efficient so that we can provide the space needed by the messengers. ”

The guidelines are still awaiting consideration by the city government.

On the other hand, the approval of the new parking policy will not change the practical arrangements in the street network, but the city is only expressing its desire to make the use of the streets more efficient, Putkonen reminds.

Could it be In Helsinki to add short-term parking spaces?

“It is one of the goals that we make more short-term parking spaces specifically for distribution, maintenance and escort traffic,” says Putkonen.

According to him, Helsinki has increasingly included so-called service pockets in its transport plans, which can be used by delivery cars. There are places for loading and unloading goods on the renovated Hämeentie, for example.

However, there is a problem with this. The service pockets are intended for distribution traffic, as food parcels are not classified as such, says Helsinki’s Director of Traffic Control, Chief Commissioner Dennis Pasterstein.

Parking on the sidewalk, bike lane or bike path is an absolute no, according to police.

“A small hand-held package is not considered to be able to stop on the sidewalk in any situation, for example. It has to be such a big or heavy package that it can’t be carried, ”says Pasterstein.

Putkonen would like the envoys to use other means of transportation than cars.

“When they operate in a dense downtown where the distances are quite short, it would also be in their best interest to use the least space-consuming vehicles possible.”

Food backpacks carrying messengers cruising among pedestrians on Iso Roobertinkatu, which has several restaurants along it.

The Indian sent Jay Patek has come to pick up an order from the dam site on Kalevankatu, about a kilometer away. He says he uses an electric kickboard in good weather and a car in bad weather.

“The electric kickboard is handy in the center, but risky with a big bag.”

Patek still prefers to use an electric kickboard rather than a car, which he says is difficult to find a short-term free parking space.

Soon another order will be picked up by a Pakistani Waqas Zafar. He shuttles on an electric bicycle.

Zafar does not have a Finnish driving license, and he does not even need a car: delivery journeys are usually short, from half a kilometer to a kilometer. Now he is taking the filled Patong to Sepänkatu.

“If I drove a car, where would I park it? Should be parked somewhere 300 meters away. It would take too much time, ”Zafar says.

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