This report is conducted by the traffic analysis company M4Traffic AB on behalf of the Finnish Waterway Association and in co-operation with the Finnish Transport Agency.

IWW transport do have plenty of unused capacity even in Finland. At the same time the Finnish Government and the local authorities are doing planning for future rail, road transport infrastructure capacities. Also, the heavy producing industries are implementing their environmental strategies.
There have not been any public studies concerning the social costs for the different transport modes in Finland. The social costs include: emissions, accident costs, infrastructure maintenance costs etc. FWA ordered a CBA analysis from a Swedish specialist, consulting company in order to get a neutral and highly professional opinion on the societal costs of the different transport modes. The results can be used by the governmental authorities, local planning authorities and by the industries. The results will also be communicated to the political decision makers.

The Saimaa Lake and canal area are the only inland waterways in Finland where there is cargo transportation. This inland waterway connection to the sea is vital for the area.

The Finnish Waterway Association as an advisor and a promoter of the use of inland waterways (sea-river) when appropriate wanted to bring another perspective to these earlier conducted studies. The social-economic impacts of different transport modes have not been studied in this extension at the Saimaa Lake area. This study will support the decision-making on investments by assuring the cost-efficient and environment friendly use of inland waterways in certain routes and with certain cargo.

Contact for further information:

Heli Koukkula-Teixeira
Toiminnanjohtaja / Executive DIrector

heli.koukkula@vesitiet.org

Suomen Vesitieyhdistys r.y. / The Finnish Waterway Association 

Urho Kekkosen katu 2, 7 krs.
00100 HELSINKI

www.vesitiet.org