Travel report from Helsinki
October 2018, Mistra SAMS visited Helsinki to study the development of MaaS in Finland. A full travel report is available via the link below.
Helsinki was chosen as a relevant place for the research team to visit as Finland is the first Nordic country that has started to transform its transport legislation to open up for new ideas for a more user-centric transport system. A system where transport, infrastructure and logistics are defined as “services and sources for well-being” Finland has implemented a new transport legislation which has opened up for new integrated mobility services in the country.
The participating researchers made three main reflections from the trip, on public evaluation and sustainability, the role of public actors, and the connection between pilot projects and day-to-day work. In our discussions with different actors, our impression was that there is currently no coherent plan for evaluation of the sustainability effects of
the new legislation, or a risk analysis of possible future need for (renewed) public interference in the market place to ensure public interests.All the actors that Mistra SAMS met presented very similar views on the development of MaaS in Finland, with the same keywords: innovation, business opportunities and user perspectives, being highlighted. The new legislation, and a general push in Finland for digitilization, has generated a large number of pilot projects and innovative mobility service companies. In our discussions with the different actors, our impression was that there is no clear strategy, and perhaps no one actor with responsibility, for how to integrate pilot projects
with each other and with the day-today work being carried out by public actors.
Public actors in Finland appear to have a great willingness to test innovations in real life and to evaluate how they work. Many MaaS innovations are developing as a result, and Finland is ahead of Sweden in MaaS. However, there are as yet no services combining Maas and AaaS in the Finnish market. We look forward to following how MaaS develops in our neighbour country and what effects its current boom will have on sustainable accessibility and mobility for Finnish travelers.