Good and flexible transport services through a new act

The Act on Transport Services will bring together legislation on transport markets and create preconditions for digitalisation and new business models in transport. Its key aim is provision of customer-oriented transport services. The Government submitted the bill on transport services for approval on 24 May.

Most parts of the Act will enter into force on 1 July 2018. The provisions on the interoperability of data and information systems will enter into force already on 1 January 2018 and the provisions relating to the introduction of intelligent transport systems linked to the ITS Directive will enter into force on 1 October 2017.

The Act will bring changes to the current state of the transport market that is strictly regulated and guided by public measures. It will promote fairness of competition in the passenger transport market and competitiveness of the service providers of both passenger and goods transport.

The new Act will create a framework for a more efficient arrangement of publicly subsidised passenger transport by utilising digitalisation, combined transport and different fleet types. The objective set in the Government Programme is to achieve a 10% saving in publicly subsidised passenger transport from 2017.

The Act on Transport Services is part of the Government key projects on deregulation and on building a digital growth environment. The new Act will improve the efficiency of transport services helping to achieve environmental and climate goals.

Travel chains to be seamless and multimodal

The Act on Transport Services will significantly enhance the implementation of new technology, digitalisation and new business concepts. It will enable seamless, multimodal travel chains.

Future transport will rely on the interoperability of information and information systems, as well as the openness of interfaces. An important aspect of the Act is that essential data on transport services can be made open. The Act will also lay down provisions for the interoperability of ticket and payment systems.

The Act will be drafted in three phases. Comments on the second phase of the draft Act may be submitted until 1 June. In the second phase, the conditions for the digitalisation of transport services and for the utilisation of information will be further improved. The second phase will also include a register of transport matters. Further development of the transport system as a service will include all transport modes.

Minister Berner: Mobility is a service

Minister of Transport and Communications Anne Berner is pleased that the first phase of the Act on Transport Services has been completed.

"The Act on Transport Services is, to a very high extent, about preparing for the future. Our legislation has to be flexible so that all parts of the transport system will work together. This Act will give us a genuine opportunity to make mobility a comprehensive service for customers. Finland is a pioneer in this work, which gives us a competitive edge," Minister Berner says.

"It is also very important that the Act on Transport Services will help us respond to the challenges of the climate change. Emission reduction targets for the transport sector are significant and several measures are needed to achieve them. The Act on Transport Services is one of them", Berner says.

Inquiries: Olli-Pekka Rantala, Director-General, tel. +358 295 34 2585, Twitter @op_rantala

Laura Vilkkonen, Director-General (open data, data interoperability), tel. +358 295 34 2391, Twitter @vilkkonen

Susanna Metsälampi, Ministerial Adviser, tel. +358 295 34 2057, Twitter @SMetsalampi

Maija Ahokas, Senior Adviser, tel. +358 295 34 2390, Twitter @mmaija