The street network and urban rail transport

The national street network

Street maintenance, i.e. street planning, construction and maintenance, is the responsibility of municipalities. Municipalities spearhead street development. In 2020, municipalities invested approximately 1.5 billion euros in traffic routes and route maintenance and repairs, most of which went towards the street network. Compared to the previous year, roughly 5% less money was spent on street maintenance. Approximately 2/5 of the costs comprises street network maintenance and repairs, whereas the share of investments is 3/5. Maintaining the current state of the street network is challenging for many municipalities at the moment. Street network renovations are often dependant on the renovation of the water supply and sewerage network below the streets, and the level of annual investment cannot cover the roughly two billion euros in maintenance backlog. 

The total length of the street network in continental Finland is approximately 31,000 km without accounting for separate routes for pedestrians and cyclists, of which there are several thousand kilometres. Most of the street network is, however, owned by a small number of municipalities. Approximately 1/3 of the street network in Finland is located in 13 municipalities.

Versatility and a varied user base are characteristic of street space. Streets serve those embarking on their journey on foot, on bike, on public transport and in their cars, as well as transport carried out using equipment of different sizes. 

When examining traffic safety, the street network is the location of just under a fifth of fatal road traffic accidents and roughly 40% of accidents resulting in injuries. Some of the accidents occurring in the street network are not, however, reported in the official statistics on traffic accidents. According to data from hospitals, a clear majority of those injured each year are cyclists, for example. 

The speed of traffic in streets is slow. The most common speed limit in the street network is 40 km/h (on 57% of the length of the street network), and the second most common speed limit is 30 km/h. Speed limits greater than 50 km/h are rare in the street network. The low speed limits and the supporting infrastructure are a key traffic safety measure in the street network.

The total length of the street network in Finland is approximately 35,000 km, excluding separate pedestrian and cycling routes, which total several thousand kilometres. Around one third of Finland’s entire street network is located within 12 municipalities.

Length of the street network by region and for the municipalities with the most street network

Source: Digiroad

Street network development needs

A large share of the street network was built in the 1960s, and it requires functional updates. Functional updates would improve the conditions for daily mobility, traffic safety and accessibility and offer better preconditions for traffic automation. 

Passenger traffic journeys on foot or bicycle mostly occur in the street network. Maintaining the share of walking at a high level requires various improvements to the walking environment in terms of functionality, accessibility and comfort. The development needs in the bicycle traffic infrastructure are concerned with shortcomings and discontinuities in connections as well as improvements to the quality of bicycle routes. Pedestrian and cycling network plans comprise an important basis for improving bicycle and walking infrastructure, which can be used to systematically identify, prioritise and remove shortcomings in the networks piece by piece to achieve maximum effect. It has been deemed useful to draft walking and cycling promotion programmes and target networks for cycling in municipalities and urban areas. Regional programmes and target networks are a necessary part of ensuring the continuity of the cycling network in both the interface between neighbouring municipalities and ELY areas. 

Any unforeseen congestion of the street network is challenging, especially in larger urban areas both in terms of arranging passenger and goods transport. The street network is at maximum capacity in places, causing challenges to public transport and nationally important nodes, such as ports and terminals. Streamlining measures have included separating public transport onto allocated lanes and smart traffic light solutions. The real-time situational picture of traffic in the street network, especially in larger urban areas, would enable smoother travel and transport chains. 

Goods transport development needs in the street network are concerned with city logistics and the functionality of routes for various larger trucks and vehicle combinations alike. The needs of city logistics are related to loading and unloading opportunities and the development of delivery information systems. The challenges large vehicles face in the street network are often concerned with individual crossings in the transportation routes for large commercial units and medium-sized industrial sites. Needs to review the transportation routes of large trucks and vehicle combinations in the street network have been identified to ensure the functionality of transportation chains.

The basis of knowledge of the street network needs development. Digiroad, the National Road and Street Database, maintains key information on features of the street network. However, municipal street network information is currently represented in Digiroad only partially. The provision of street network information to Digiroad is the responsibility of the municipality. Having access to road traffic information in one place brings added value to planning and works to enable the development of digital services related to traffic and the street network. 

Urban rail transport

Urban rail transport encompasses metro and tram transport. Urban rail infrastructure is owned by municipalities in Finland. The metro currently serves Helsinki and Espoo. The continuance of the West Metro is expected to start services to Kivenlahti in 2023. A project to increase the capacity of the metro is under way. Tram transport is available in Helsinki and Tampere. Both cities, and with the Jokeri Light Rail also Espoo, are expanding their tram network. In addition to construction, current large, urban MAL areas in Helsinki, Tampere and Turku are actively planning urban rail projects.

Urban rail projects are aimed at achieving an efficient public transport system and sustainable mobility as well as supporting the goal to make the community structure denser. Current and planned urban rail projects are closely connected to land use development in each urban rail corridor. Other urban areas have also conducted reviews of the opportunities of urban rail transport.