Heikki Liimatainen: Transport of tomorrow – safe, emission-free, and equal
“For us at the Transport Research Centre Verne, a triple-zero vision has become the guiding vision for the future of the development of sustainable transport systems. A transport system, where no one needs to die because of traffic accidents or emissions or live a restricted life due to a lack of transport services. “
According to Liimatainen, the transport system is forged by technological trends, including automation that promises to eliminate traffic accidents, electrification that will eliminate emissions, and the servitization of transport, which will eliminate the need of owning your own, expensive car. But technology is a double-edged sword, and development in one area can have a negative impact on another.
Studies analyze various policy tools for achieving sustainable transport and aim to offer data to support policymaking. There are still many issues to resolve on both the Finnish and the global scale. Liimatainen says that Finnish transport emissions exceed the maximum emissions for globally sustainable traffic on all income levels at present.
“The upside of promoting safe, emission-free, and equal transport is that measures promoting one aspect of sustainability are likely to promote the others as well. By promoting sustainable modes of transport, we can simultaneously reduce emissions, improve public health, promote road safety, and reduce the risk of transport poverty.”
Heikki Liimatainen's contact information
