RURAL TRANSPORTATION - A CHALLENGE FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEMS

In order to reduce passenger transport costs and to maintain the service level of public transport in the sparsely populated rural areas of Finland, new modes of public transport need to be developed. This development work can only be carried out by using and developing transport telematics. Telematics enables a more co-ordinated, cost-efficient and flexible way to organize public transport. The Ministry of Transport and Communications is co-ordinating the development of transport telematics in Finland. The general idea is that almost all transport of passengers, parcels and small goods could be integrated. Most of these transport requests could be managed by means of public transport. This development naturally requires advanced concepts, vehicles, legislation, telematics applications and pilot projects. The Ministry has co-ordinated some very successful pilot projects in this field, which shows that there are actually concrete means to meet the challenge of arranging public transport in rural areas by utilizing transport telematics. For the covering abstract see IRRD E102946.