Overview
On 27 March 2008 the Finnish Government submitted its first report on transport policy to Parliament. The report was prepared under the leadership of the ministerial working group on transport and communications chaired by Ms Anu Vehviläinen, Minister of Transport. In future a Government transport policy report will become a standard practice and a report will be issued to Parliament in the beginning of every parliamentary term.
A key aim of the report is to improve long-term sustainability in transport policy. The report also includes decisions on transport investments and their financing for the current four-year parliamentary term. This will provide better opportunities for planning and implementing long-term projects and taking the economic fluctuations in the civil engineering market into consideration.
Objectives to be achieved by 2020
- The transport network provides the possibilities for developing and maintaining vitality to the various parts of the country.
- The logistics system in Finland operates efficiently and provides companies with
- possibilities for competitive operations despite additional transport costs caused by long distances and severe climate.
- Transport markets have fair and non-discriminating competitive conditions and
- significant barriers to competition have been removed. The transport sector in Finland is competitive in globalising markets
Solutions based on new technologies and the various methods of traffic management are applied to different modes of transport in different ways. In air, sea and railway traffic, traffic management is essential for the allocation of network capacity, and it is often real-time management. Information services for passengers are still being developed. In road traffic, traffic management applications are to be found in communications, control and guidance, and the management of traffic disturbances. New operating models have been rapidly adopted in public transport.
It is important to develop cooperation in traffic management and controlled utilisation of traffic services, particularly in urban regions. Congestion can be regulated by “steering” the periods of traffic demand as well as choices of modes and routes.
The attractiveness of public transport can be improved by intelligent technological solutions. Finland is one of the world’s forerunners with regard to electronic systems for paying for journeys on public transport. Paper-based tickets have been replaced by smart cards several years ago. Possibilities that are still insufficiently exploited include, for example, the comprehensive supply of wireless broadband connections in public transport vehicles, the development of traffic signal priorities, and the provision of real-time information about schedules and waiting times.