Fintraffic publication selected as best of the year at ITS World Congress
On 20 September, the ITS World Congress, a major event for intelligent transportation systems, presented an award to Fintraffic’s Road Traffic Management for the best technical publication of 2024. The award-winning publication highlights the importance of a data-driven and ecosystemic approach to improving traffic safety and flow. The publication presents the use cases implemented by Fintraffic. Fintraffic is very visible at the world's leading ITS event, as the company's experts give as many as seven expert speeches on different themes at the event.
Finland is a pioneer in road safety, and we have strong evidence on the use of data and digitalisation in road traffic. There is ongoing cooperation between public administration and various industrial operators, such as vehicle manufacturers, service providers and logistics operators. We see road traffic as an entity that can only be developed by combining the forces of different operators.
"In Finland, road traffic has a major role in society both in passenger and freight transport. An ecosystemic approach and the more extensive utilisation of new information sources play a key role in the development of increasingly intelligent traffic safety. In this way, we can together ensure responsible and sustainable traffic and create space for new solutions and operating models," explains Olli Rossi, Unit Manager at Fintraffic’s Road Traffic Management.
In order to ensure that the nearly 48 billion kilometres driven annually in Finland can be driven safely and smoothly, information exchange between transport operators, vehicles, routes and road users must be seamless.
"Fintraffic annually collects a huge amount of traffic and condition data from roads, which is used to ensure that road traffic is safe. We share this data for others to use. Information flows directly between operators such as road maintenance contractors and Fintraffic, which facilitates the correctly-timed ploughing of roads and prevention of slipperiness during the winter season. Motorists, on the other hand, receive information on such things as the driving conditions on their own route from the Fintraffic App and can also use the app to report traffic deviations and hazards themselves. In coming years, the development of traffic safety will increasingly comprise the more comprehensive utilisation of traffic-related information, in which the exchange and combination of information will ensure that information on traffic and conditions from various operators will serve traffic safety," says Jani Kariniemi, Head of Digital at Fintraffic’s Road Traffic Management.
Data ecosystem work is a key part of the journey towards a more comprehensive knowledge base
Fintraffic is actively building a transport data ecosystem that aims to create competitive and scalable services for both Finland and the international market. The data ecosystem is an important part of Fintraffic's goal to create a more comprehensive knowledge base for traffic and logistics users.
EU legislation sets certain requirements for the collection and sharing of data, but the aim is to take the utilisation of data one step further in Finland. The common intent of the ecosystem is to find solutions that can enable safe, low-emission, and user-friendly travel and transport chains as well as new business opportunities for the entire transport sector.
"One example of data use is the Waze for Cities programme, in which we utilise Waze's real-time traffic data. As a result, motorists can see deviations in driving time and advance information on congested road section from Fintraffic's traffic information displays on Ring Road III, one of the busiest highways in Finland. Waze, in turn, utilises our traffic bulletins through the Digitraffic open data sharing service for Fintraffic application developers," Jani Kariniemi sums up.
Traffic safety is also at the centre of the Data for Road Safety ecosystem, which has this summer provided more comprehensive situational information to car manufacturers on Finnish roads. Vehicle manufacturers and other operators taking part in the Data for Road Safety ecosystem have been able to utilise Fintraffic's traffic bulletins in their own navigation systems via POST Luxembourg.
Real-time data together with machine learning and artificial intelligence have also included increasing cooperation with educational institutions. Fintraffic's road traffic management is currently working together with the University of Jyväskylä to explore whether machine learning can be used to anticipate accident risks.
You can access the publication here. Article authors: Jani Kariniemi, Olli Rossi, Tomi Laine, Mika Ahvenainen, and Jani Laiho.
ITS World Congress 2024 is an international event for intelligent transportation and digital traffic systems organised in Dubai 16 - 20 September 2024. Sustainable mobility, intelligent traffic systems and smart city initiatives will be presented at the event. The congress will bring together more than 20,000 participants, feature 170 different events and showcase more than 300 exhibitors. The programme includes high-tech presentations, networking and speeches by global industry leaders. Additional information: ITS World Congress 2024
Towards the safest, smoothest and most environmentally-friendly traffic in the world. Fintraffic provides and develops traffic control and management services in all forms of transport on land, at sea and in the air. We help people and goods arrive safely and smoothly, while also taking account of the environment. Intelligent traffic management services, digital services for companies and consumers and up-to-date traffic information accelerate Finland’s development into a pioneer in sustainable transport and logistics.
