Transport System Plan in the Oulu Region 2040

The Transport System Plan in the Oulu Region is a strategic, long-term plan which aims toward the year 2040 about how the region’s transport system will be developed from the perspective of different transport groups, needs and modes.  

The goals and actions compiled in the Transport System Plan support the Development Perspective 2030+ which was finished in 2021, as well as the region’s environment goals among other things.  
The Transport System Plan also supports the MAL land use, housing and transport agreement signed between the region and the state by implementing actions and updating the agreement for the years 2024–2027.  

The Transport System Plan in the Oulu Region recognizes transport-related matches to the Development Perspective of the Oulu Region 2030+’s goals that have a primary focus on land use matters. With this plan, the development of the transport system supports the approved Development Perspective’s implementation as well as closer shared planning between transport and land use. 

Work will be done in active dialogue between the region’s municipalities and while heeding stakeholders. Responses will be collected for the following three questions: 

1. How does the transport system support the implementation of the Development Perspective in the Oulu Region 2030+’s primary goals? 
2. What type of decisions must be made to implement the Transport System Plan? 
3. Which most important actions of other plans (such as the SUMP Sustainable Transport Plan or Public Transport Strategy) should be coordinated with the Transport System Plan and compiled into a strategic roadmap? 

In the spring of 2023, workshops have been organized where information and needs have been collected for the development of the transport system in the future. Further information can be found on this webpage. During the spring and summer, alternative solutions for the transport system will be modeled, and effects will be evaluated before selecting a transport system for the future in the region.  

In the fall, the work will focus on compiling an implementation path for the transport system. The results of the work will be published in the fall, at a date which will be announced at a later date. 

To advance the Transport System Plan work, a workshop was held on Tuesday February 7, 2023, at the University of Oulu with students of a special course on municipal planning.  

The goal of the workshops was to present the compilation process to the students and adapt the plan’s goals in the student’s course work area of Ylikiiminki. Students compiled a development perspective for the Ylikiiminki region during the course and present their productions to the city of Oulu’s Urban Environmental Committee. 

Transport system questions were discussed during the workshop, such as questions about Ylikiiminki’s location regionally and its accessibility in the future. Additionally, the workshop discussed Ylikiiminki’s transport needs due to land use development. 

The groups discussed three different scenarios that differ in population development. The scenarios were used to discuss the region’s future challenges and attraction factors as well as how a transport system can acknowledge these issues. The development perspectives strove to promote sustainable modes of transport, such as buses, walking and cycling opportunities as much as possible while considering the region’s distinctiveness.  

The students found the workshop rewarding and it offered them new perspectives for compiling development perspectives of transport planning. Especially, the workshops reinforced the idea of preconditions and opportunities of promoting public transport and pedestrian transport in future. The workshop was held by Sitowise’s Anna-Sofia Hyvönen and Paula Siuruainen. 

A workshop was held on Wednesday February 1, 2023, for the regional structure workers at Oulu’s BusinessAsema. The goal of the workshop was to consider how transport systems support the implementation of the Development Perspective 2030+’s goals. The workshop considered what transport-related questions must be solved in the coming years and what should be pursued in the long term.  

Oulu Regional Transport’s Administration’s spokesperson Tapio Siikaluoma opened the workshop by presenting the Transport System Plan’s progress from the past spring. Before the workshop, Sitowise’s Anna-Sofia Hyvönen laid the groundwork with Sitra’s megatrends and their effects on the development of the transport system was discussed.  

During the workshop, groups considered different land use themes, such as future developments required by multicentrality, diverse housing, as well as service and competence network goals. Strong public transport routes and their service levels and the enhancement needs of logistic requirements were also discussed.  

Representatives of the cities and municipalities in the field of technical engineering and surveying participated in the workshop together with the Region Development Manager of Oulu, representatives of the Transport System Unit and the Director of Regional Use from the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, representatives of Traficom, Council of the Oulu Region and the consultant firm Sitowise which promotes the project.