Questionnaire For
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Response to questionnaire for: Assessment of strategic plans and policy measures on Investment and Maintenance in Transport Infrastructure Country: Finland 1 INTRODUCTION Because of the geographical situation and the population density, traffic flows in Finland are quite low and travelling distances are long. Role of the motor traffic is predominant compared to other ways of transport. Development and quantity of sea traffic is directly subject to changes in economy. In the long term, role of the railroad traffic has been stable. Motor traffic and air traveling are on the increase. 1.1 Infrastructure In Finland, there are 765 km of motorways, 78 000 km of roads (of which 13 300 km are highways or main roads). Out of those 78 000 km, almost two-thirds are paved roads. Addition to that, there are 350 000 km of private roads. There are 5 919 km railroads, of which 52% are electric railroads. There aren’t any high speed lines in Finland. In Finland, there are 16 200 km of inland waterways, of which approx. 3 900 km are used in merchant shipping. Largest maritime ports by freight traffic are (with their handling capacity statistics from 2011) Sköldvik (import 12.74 mill.ton. / export 22.16 mill.ton.), Helsinki (import 6.29 mill.ton. / export 11.23 mill.ton.), Naantali (import 5.20 mill.ton / export 8.00 mill.ton.), HaminaKotka (import 5.1 mill.ton. / export 8.0 mill.ton.) and Raahe (import 4.83 mill.ton. / export 5.69 mill.ton.). Largest maritime ports by passenger traffic (with their statistics from 2011) are Helsinki (10.25 mill. passengers) and Turku (2.92 mill. passengers). In Finland, there are 27 airports out of which 2 are owned privately and 25 are run by Finnavia. Helsinki-Vantaa is largest with 12.89 million passengers per year, second largest is Oulu with 700 000 passengers per year. Second largest airport when comparing foreign traffic is Tampere with 617 000 international passengers. 1.2 Performance In Finnish road traffic, the congestion is not that big issue apart from centres of biggest cities in Finland (mainly Helsinki, Tampere, Turku and Oulu). Annually Finnish citizens make approx. 74 billion passenger km, of which 89 per cent is road traffic. Finnish industry and commerce believes that service rate in Finnish traffic system has developed into a positive direction. Even so, they feel that there are still some problem areas which need to be develop, for example railroads for cargo traffic, roads with low traffic rates and railroad connections to industrial establishments. Biggest single challenge in Finnish traffic system is winter maintenance, especially in sea traffic; from Kemi to Hamina, Finland surrounded by Baltic Sea which frozes every winter. Finnish ice breakers supply passages for ships through ice, so that 90 per cent of ships are on time. When viewing safety issues in Finnish traffic it is clear that almost all of the serious accidents happen in road traffic; in 2011, 292 people got killed in road accidents, where as only two people died in railway crossing accidents. Last major air traffic accident happened in 2005 (14 killed in a helicopter accident). 2 MAJOR PROJECTS AND FUNDING Main traffic-related project in Finland is development of highway E18 (E18 goes from Turku to Vaalimaa’s border crossing with Russia) – E18 is the most important international road-connection in Finland, and these improvements (more motorway instead of highway, etc.) would be beneficial also for Finnish economy. Other major projects are improving service-rate and reliability of Finnish railway- network – especially finishing of improving of Ostrobothnia area’s railway network, improving public transport as a whole in Finland, etc. In Finland, the main financing source for large investments is state and its budjet. Finnish state funds railroads, waterway, highways etc. Municipalities fund and build their street networks, and Finavia is responsible of Finnish airports. Private-Public Partnership has been used in 3 road project so far. It can be used only if it is economically efficient than public sector comparator. Financial crisis has not changed any of the Finnish policy/funding structures. 3 STRATEGIC PLANS When considering how to secure Finland’s competitiveness and continuous economic growth, the most important factors are foreign connections, service-rate of most important internal routes, and functional traffic systems in main urban areas. Future economic growth of the St. Petersburg area (and of the whole Russia) could open many new possibilities and opportunities for Finnish transportation companies. Major traffic projects in Finland are funded from the state budjet. 3.1 Long Term There are three long-term projects which are already scheduled to be carried out in the 10 years. Those scheduled projects are prioritized in a following way: “City Rail Loop”, Helsinki area – 750 million euro railroad project, which main objective is to improve railroad connections from Helsinki metropolitan area to Helsinki-Vantaa airport. expandind capacity to Helsinki-Riihimäki railroad – 200 million euro project double-tracking Luumäki-Imatra railroad and improve railroad connection from Imatra to Russian border – 380 million euro project Addition to this, the Government of Finland have created a list of long-term projects, which are not yet confirmed but are scheduled (mentioning few): Improving main highways, waterways and railroads (several subjects) – 900 million euros Improving Helsinki metropolitan area traffic system – 700 million euros Financially supporting traffic projects of other urban areas (for example tramline projects of Turku and Tampere region – 300 million euros 3.2 Mid Term There are many mid-term projects scheduled to be complished in next few years. Biggest of these projects (over 100 million euros) are: E18 highway (between Hamina and Vaalimaa) rebuilding to be a new completely separate motorway with an aim to advance the commercial connections and relationship between Finland and Russia. 240 million euros. Improving the service rate of the highway 8 between Turku and Pori, 100 million euros. Adding new capacity to a railroad between Helsinki and Riihimäki by installing an additional railtrack into few segments in that section, and improving excisting stations and junctions. 150 million euros. Developing a “Ring road 3” (a main highway across the furthest parts of Helsinki metropolitan area) by expanding excisting junctions and adding few new ones, and also improving segments of that highway. 110 million euros. 4 ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY Foremost criterias in deciding which of planned projects are going to be selected as investment projects are their social economical influence and profitability. Those planned investment projects are then put through a benefit/cost-analysis. In Finland, all investment projects are viewed through benefit/costs-analysis. Theoretically it is enough that the result of b/c-analysis is above 1.00, but in reality, b/c-analysis must be at least 1.50 for a project to be carried through. Annex Competitiveness and well-being through responsible transport Government Report on Transport Policy submitted to the Parliament of Finland 2012 Programmes and strategies 4/2012 Competitiveness and well-being through responsible transport 3 Competitiveness and well-being through responsible transport Government Report on Transport Policy submitted to the Parliament of Finland 2012 1. Background to the drafting of transport policy .................................................................................................................. 4 1.1 Preparation of the report .......................................................................................................................................................................... 5 1.2 Formulating transport policy outlines ................................................................................................................................ 6 1.3 Future transport policy challenges ..................................................................................................................................... 6 1.4 Current status of the transport system ...................................................................................................................................... 10 2. Vision for transport 2030+ ........................................................................................................................................................................ 13 3. Service-oriented transport system ................................................................................................................................................. 14 4. Funding as the basis for service level .......................................................................................................................................... 16 5. Transport system as an enabler of sustainable growth ..................................................................................... 21 6. Well-being based on the smooth functioning of everyday life ........................................................................... 28 7. Smart and responsible transport ................................................................................................................................................... 34 8. From efficient practices to the desired results ........................................................................................ 38 9. Special transport policy issues of the 2010s ..................................................................................................