New mobility models presented at the seminar Transport Now

Themes of the seminar were digitalisation, automation and MaaS (Mobility as a Service). The following practical examples were presented: Aurora, NordicWay and the transport legislation reform Liikennekaari.

In her opening speech, Minister Anne Berner emphasized automation, electronisation, servitisation and digitalisation, which should all be utilised. "Everything that can be digitalised, will be digitalised", she said.

In his address, Jan Juslén, Director at the Finnish Transport Agency’s Traffic and Information Division, underlined that traffic services will be built on a data foundation. Jan Juslén pointed out that especially the younger generation expects tailored traffic services.

In the last few years, the Finnish Transport Agency has, to a large extent, opened up its data reserves. Open Data Expert Tomi Lapinlampi said that Finland is a forerunner when it comes to opening up railway traffic data, only Great Britain lies ahead of us.

Development Manager Asta Tuominen also emphasized the importance of providing a wide range of services. ”Finland is a pioneer when it comes to MaaS. In future, it will surely be possible to obtain door-to-door traffic services with one reservation, password and payment."

At the seminar, the possibilities automation opens up for improving traffic safety were mentioned, as well as the role of open data in enabling new innovations, such as various applications. Project Manager Ilkka Kotilainen at the Finnish Transport Agency highlighted the project NordicWay and mentioned the opportunity offered voluntary drivers of testing inter-vehicle communication in April.

Susanna Metsälampi from the Ministry of Transport and Communications presented the transport legislation reform, the aim of which is to ensure that legislation does not hamper digitalisation, innovations or new experiments. This project is a concrete example of the fact that the authorities can take an enabling role.

”In my opinion, digitalisation means that the same capacity is used  more effectively and intelligently”, said Managing Director Reija Viinanen at Tunturi-Lapin Kehitys ry. Reija Viinanen brought the perspective of Northern Finland to the event in Helsinki by speaking about the traffic conditions in Lapland and the ongoing Aurora Project. The project comprises subprojects, which will form a uniform test area for intelligent traffic in Fell Lapland.

New traffic models were envisioned by Paul Zanelli, Chief Technical Officer at Transport Systems Catapult via video. Paul Zanelli emphasized the importance of improving customer experience of traffic services and reliable service providers, so that customers will want to and dare to share data.

”It is important for the Finnish Transport Agency to keep the infrastructure in good condition, but nowadays data is an equally important building element as, for example, bitumen”, said Director General Antti Vehviläinen in his closing remarks. The Finnish Transport Agency encourages a culture of experimentation and wants to respond to changes in society. According to Antti Vehviläinen, the starting point is to listen and respond to customer expectations.

The nearly 300 participants at the seminar actively used the message board and Twitter. The discussions at the seminar can be viewed on Twitter @Liikennevirasto  using the hashtag #liikenne2016.