SUMPs in Finland

Finnish transport policy aims at ensuring safe and functional everyday travel for citizens as well as maintaining the competitiveness of business with reducing emissions at the same time. To meet these challenges the development of the public transport together with intelligent transport services plays a pivotal role.

Several strategies related to the planning of sustainable urban traffic exist. Government has prepared a report on transport policy (2012), which states Finland`s transport policy lines for 2012−2022. According to the report the transport policy should be included in the development of society as a whole and close cooperation between different administrative branches is needed. A New Environmental Strategy for Transport 2013–2020, published by the Ministry of Transport and Communication, aims at promoting sustainable and technically advanced transport. One approach is to strive to organise urban traffic into practices which are as harmless for the environment as possible. In 2009, Finland published its national Strategy for Intelligent Transport, which was the first ever made national intelligent transport strategy in the world. The strategy was updated in 2013 and Finland`s second generation intelligent strategy for transport came out, emphasising the utilisation of the possibilities that information and communication technology, in both public and private sectors, are offering for transport planning. There also exist National Strategy for Walking and Cycling (2011) and National Energy and Climate Strategy (2013) both promoting sustainable forms of transport.

There is a lack of national legislation and coherent guidelines for planning sustainable mobility in Finland. Only the Helsinki region has a transport system plan based on legislation. However, many city-regions are having plans in many ways equivalent for the definition by the European Union for the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMP).

Source: Endurance project