VTT publishes new research about the state of digitalisation in public transportation in Finland

The digitalisation of public transport helps to achieve the set service and emissions targets

Finland needs a digital travel information market that motivates different information providers to produce travel data needed for high-standard digital services to be shared by all service providers. Travel information contains data related to the operation of public transport, such as route, stop and timetable data, as well as disruption information and real-time data.

In collaboration with key public transport operators, the Finnish state owned research institute VTT studied the current situation of the digital travel information infrastructure, development needs, organisational models and measures for achieving the target state. The aim is to make public and shared transport a genuine alternative to private motoring to reduce emissions and generate business-driven growth. The key measure to increase attractiveness is the provision of comprehensive, high-quality digital travel data and services based on it.

Challenges of the current state and future goals

The operating environment of public transport has gone through many changes. Emissions targets, customer requirements and changes in legislation require increasing attention from service providers. Furthermore, new forms of mobility and flexible demand-driven and shared services increase the requirements for digital services. The implementation of smooth multimodal travel chains requires taking account of the needs of various actors and standard solutions to ensure interoperability. At the national level, the development of digital public transport services has come to a halt or been siloed into limited service packages, despite the efforts of the authorities to establish nationwide integration of travel data and a journey planner based on it.

“The current systems are beginning to be outdated, and they no longer support all needs and new forms of mobility services. All actors will need to renew their systems in the near future, which provides an opportunity for developing common and compatible solutions,” says Hannu Heikkinen from the Helsinki Regional Transport Authority (HSL).

The need for the reorganisation of the providers of travel information services arises largely from the need to provide interoperable services in a cost-effective manner. Another major change in the current situation is the restructuring of the maintenance and service provision of the Digitransit system, which serves as the foundation of, for example, matka.fi and the journey planners of HSL and TVV Lippu- ja maksujärjestelmä Oy.

In addition to services targeted to consumers, transport operators and other travel information providers need a clear integration environment, standards, guidelines and tools for producing high-quality travel information for all parties involved.

“Comprehensive travel information is needed by all, not only customers but also authorities for such tasks as planning and monitoring,” says Pipsa Eklund from the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom.

Measures and operating models for achieving the objectives

The VTT report describes different alternatives for potential organisational models for the travel information ecosystem, including the roles, necessary measures and technical solutions. The aim is to find a model that uses the work and business of different actors while taking account of the needs of the public sector. Tentatively, the hybrid model based on cooperation between the public and the private sector is considered the best option.

“The challenge with closed systems is whether they allow providing consumers with a service that is good enough to make them switch from private cars to public transport,” says Jari Paasikivi from TVV lippu- ja maksujärjestelmä Oy.

Towards an advanced national solution together with the key operators in the sector

“As a small market area, it is not resource-wise for Finland to have different parties doing the same overlapping things that, at their worst, are not even compatible. A common ecosystem and trust network between the actors would give better opportunities for cost-effective action that, at best, could extend beyond national borders,” says Olli Pihlajamaa, Senior Scientist at VTT.

HSL, Matkahuolto, TVV Lippu- ja maksujärjestelmä, Traficom and VTT have decided to make an initiative on a travel information group, which will set off to specify the required measures together and ultimately decide on the organisation of the collection and integration of travel data. The aim is to bring Finnish actors together to join concrete cooperation, which would result in building a joint solution that serves all actors.

“To generate good services the project should engage a broad range of actors and service providers from both the private and public sectors in producing and utilising information. Genuine collaboration will benefit all the parties involved and enable the provision of better services to consumers,” says Mika Rajanen from Oy Matkahuolto Ab.

Further information:

VTT Technical Research Center of Finland
Olli Pihlajamaa
Senior Scientist
+358 40 5069153
olli.pihlajamaa@vtt.fi

Read the original article in Finnish on VTT’s webpage.

Crossing the last-mile with a self-driving bus in Tampere

Tampere is planning to streamline public transport in more ways than just launching tramway services. In September 2020, the city started a free trial with self-driving Roboride vehicles.

This autumn, the self-driving last-mile busses provided by Finnish Roboride Ltd. have been transporting people among other traffic in Tampere around Hiedanranta and the Lielahti Manor. Customers can order a ride from this nifty vehicle with a smartphone for the “first and last kilometre” – meaning those stretches that public transport does not cover otherwise.

The self-driving vehicles travel at approximately 20 km/h and utilise several technologies for automatic driving, such as sensors, cameras and radars. With these tools, Robo takes the right way and identifies others on the road. The vehicle moves autonomously, but during the test run, there is a safety driver inside or near the vehicle. The vehicle has room for seven passengers, but due to COVID-19 restrictions, only four passengers at a time will be allowed in for the time being.

Roboride has developed its driverless transport service together with the Finnish state owned research institute VTT. Although permit processes and reports have taken some time, the authorities in Finland are positive towards automated traffic, says Matti Kutila, VTT Team Leader who participated in the project.

– The idea of self-driving vehicles is to increase the appeal of public transport and to make it possible for vulnerable groups such as children and old people to get around safely. With this new mode of transport, we expect to see a decline in the need to use private cars, which supports EU’s CO2 reduction targets. And that’s a positive outcome for the environment, says Kutila.

According to Kutila, the company’s first pilot was carried out last year at Kuparipuisto in Pori. The pilot laid the foundation for ensuring the safety and fluency of traffic in Hiedanranta. VTT was closely involved in the planning of the pilot and carrying out the risk analysis.

According to Kutila, operating a self-driving vehicle in Finland always requires a test permit, and the permits are managed by the traffic safety authority Traficom.

– They have requirements for how the risk assessment should be carried out and how the vehicle has to be technically implemented, plus they have a say on matters such as cyber security, describes Kutila.

Risk analysis ensures safety

Getting a testing permit required establishing several functional aspects, such as: how far ahead can the vehicle detect obstacles that are in front of it, what type of debugging system does the vehicle need to have, how do location services work, and what kind of challenges does the operating environment pose.

As an example, Kutila mentions a situation where there is a dark corner that makes it impossible for the vehicle’s sensor to properly see around it. Available options are to add sensors to ensure visibility or not drive the entire route.

– These are precisely the issues that VTT has been involved in solving, Kutila emphasises.

According to Kutila, monitoring a vehicle in traffic is one way of reducing risks. The person monitoring the vehicle must have a driving licence and preferably a road safety permit as well. The vehicles that are in traffic are not monitored remotely as such, but it must be possible to verify the route, and the error correction system requires a telecommunications link.

The systems in the vehicle are integrated by the manufacturer, but they always have certain limitations that need to be taken into account when planning operations.

– For example, maximum speed is limited by the resolution of the sensors that recognise objects in front of the vehicle. Another challenge with sensors is weather: you need to determine what kind of weather is suitable for using the vehicle. These issues are also included in our risk assessment discussions, says Kutila.

Solving the right problems

Tatu Nieminen, CEO of Roboride, explains that the objective of the Kuparipuisto pilot was to meet the right needs. In the pilot, visitors were transported from the gate of the industrial park to the customer.

– It’s a really complex area, so it was downright foolhardy to start operations there. There are no traffic lights or really no lanes either in the area. They have about 1,500 people working there who are walking and riding bicycles, with forklifts transporting copper reels. In addition, there is a train track that goes across the area with trains using the tracks without any fixed schedules, Nieminen describes the challenges they faced in the area.

Nieminen says that carrying out a risk assessment and planning operations was done in a fairly straightforward way in workshops. Roboride representatives, VTT experts, the vehicle manufacturers and the customer toured the area to explore it and see where potential routes could be.

The process model created in the Kuparipuisto pilot was also used to carry out the safety assessment of the Hiedanranta pilot; the report ended up being about 100 pages long. The assessment involved examining the intended route in detail, measuring signal coverage in the area, and observing the behaviour of others in the environment.

During the six-week Roboride pilot, there were no incidents or near-misses in Hiedanranta.

–    This tells us that we did our homework well and did a good job with the safety assessment, Nieminen says.

Smooth cooperation with authorities

Roboride hasn’t had any problems with legislation, and working with Traficom to obtain permits has gone without any issues according to Tatu Nieminen.

– Compared to other countries, Finland is very progressive in this respect: it is easier to get a permit here than in Central Europe, for example. I can pick up the phone and have a direct conversation with the decision-making authority. You can’t do that in China, France or Germany. A small country and liberal legislation create a lot of possibilities for companies in the sector, Nieminen says.

Outside Finland, according to Nieminen, people have not really grasped how Finland’s legislation can allow things that are not possible elsewhere. Not in Europe, not outside Europe. In addition to a permissive atmosphere, Finland already has expertise related to autonomous driving.

– It makes Finland interesting to the manufacturers of these vehicles and offers Finland the opportunity to create a genuinely new industrial sector. This is the opportunity of our lifetime, says Nieminen.

Read the original article on VTT’s webpage.

Whitepaper Safety Challenges of Autonomous Mobile Systems in Dynamic Unstructured Environments

Safety Challenges of Autonomous Mobile Systems in Dynamic Unstructured Environments: Situational awareness, decision-making, autonomous navigation, & human-machine interface

RAAS Research Alliance for Autonomous Systems released their White Paper in November 2020 about safety challenges of autonomous mobile systems in dynamic unstructured environments.

Future autonomous mobile machines will be capable of operating in often unstructured and dynamic environment in a safe and meaningful manner and simultaneously work towards given mission objectives without being extensively controlled by human operators. In order to do that an autonomous machine has not only to monitor its internal state but also sense, perceive, classify and model what is currently happening around it and even predict what will most likely happen in the near future. The requirement is the same be it a modern highly automated mobile working or transportation machine, an intelligent field and service robot or a next-generation oceangoing vessel. The current wide range of high-quality sensor systems available commercially-off-the-shelf together with well-matured multi-sensor fusion algorithms provide a solid foundation for that task. In addition, the machine should be connected to any available supportive infrastructure (e.g., localization services, dynamic maps, etc.) and have tight interactions with other autonomous mobile machines sharing the same operation space. Furthermore, the autonomous mobile machine should, at all times, in any condition, be fully aware of any human presence – intended or unintended. The safety of humans must be ensured at any cost.

This white paper discusses the challenges, state-of-the-art solutions and future directions on four horizontals; situational awareness, decision-making, autonomous navigation and human-machine interface and over four domains; road transport, machinery, UAV, and maritime. The paper gathers the work done in RAAS and presents views from the state-of-the art scientific and policy literature, and industry reports. The paper will give the reader a comprehensive understanding of the relevant techniques and their shortcoming and will thereby serve as a starting point for development that will take the sector forward.

Read the white paper on RAAS’s webpage.

Whitepaper Autonomous Solutions and Change in the Technology Companies’ Business

Autonomous systems bring up new opportunities to industries and supply chains. At the same time, they demand new business models, and challenge industries, and society, to change.

RAAS Research Alliance for Autonomous Systems released their White Paper in August 2020 about autonomous solutions and change in the technology companies’ business.

Digitalization means a step-by-step change from products to intelligent solutions and toward autonomous systems via remote diagnostics, remote control, and optimization. An ideal autonomous system is by definition autonomous, but it is tightly linked to other systems, organisations, and people. To achieve the intended benefits of autonomous systems; increased efficiency, quality, safety, sustainability and reliability; we need to better understand requirements of the systemic change from the perspective of firms and business networks

In our essay, we rationalize why and how research on autonomous systems need to address the implications for firms’ and their business networks’ activities as well as the institutional implications for society at large. As a conclusion, we present six research themes and related research questions that increasing autonomy of systems raises.

Reseach themes

Research theme 1. Managing systemic change in development, integration, implementation of autonomous system. How to renew value creation and capture so that autonomous systems implementation and utilization is profitable? What kind of requirements are there for systemic change, and what are the phases toward profitable business?

Research theme 2. Ecosystem building, orchestration and synchronized change for autonomous systems, including business model transformation in firms. The ecosystems for autonomous systems challenge firm- and product- oriented business practises and requires new kinds of collaboration, competence and value sharing. What kind of new links between firms are needed, who is the “right” orchestrator and how to fairly share the benefits? How to synchronize the change in and between firms?

Research theme 3. Autonomous systems operational and technology platforms, their standardization locally, in Europe, and globally, and in different sectors of industry. The potential of digital marketplaces and shared technology platforms is understood but implementation is in its infancy in B2B sector. Standards are needed, but how to create and define them with competitors? When is a local approach best and where is global collaboration needed?

Research theme 4. Adoption and diffusion of autonomous systems technology, digital services and complex solutions between in business relationships; the capabilities and readiness of customers. To achieve the benefits of the new technology, it is often required that also customers and other ecosystem actors accept and adapt the new technology. How to make the new technology attractive for customers? How can the innovators – first movers – accelerate the change of late adaptors?

Research theme 5. Radical innovations in business strategy and execution of strategic change programs in ecosystems. Development and utilization of autonomous systems call for bold and strategic decision-making and abandoning old path-dependencies. Building a strong change-oriented mind-set, investment in innovation and keeping the current business profitable at the same time creates discrepancies. How to implement a strategy that contains disruptive elements? How to stand, or even exploit the uncertainty related to radical innovations?

Research theme 6. Decision-making and resilience; changes in organizations and in ways of working. Increasing autonomy challenges the prevailing mental models of management and forces to update decision-making criteria and practices to better fit the new systemic world. The nature of work, tasks and competencies required can change, and the readiness and willingness to change, i.e. resilience, become as prerequisite in all kinds of work. What kind of actions are needed to get the changes accepted and under way? How can firms share their best practises to foster ecosystem resilience?

The original RAAS white paper in Finnish can be read here.

Awake AI has launched a new mobile app for Smart Ports

Awake.AI has officially launched a new mobile app for the use of its Smart Port as a Service (SPaaS) solution, which provides maritime actors with improved situational awareness and more efficient port calls.

SPaaS is a real-time overview and collaboration tool which enables smarter operational decision-making and helps maritime businesses to become environmentally more sustainable, considerably benefiting the industry and society at large.

The new Smart Port Mobile app provides a more convenient way for users to access the company’s SPaaS solution on the go. Register for a free trial here.

Awake.AI said that with the Smart Port Mobile it is solving two main issues faced by all maritime actors today: poor communication caused by the lack of transparency and reliance on manual tools, as well as poor situational awareness.

SPaaS has already been offered as a desktop application for office use, and now the new mobile app provides also port personnel a convenient access to the solution on the go.

The app offers confidence and assurance to a smooth port operation. As an example, it allows port personnel to see the tasks that are assigned to them. They can mark the tasks as done when appropriate, as well as access real-time information as to any changes or delays to vessel arrival times may occur.

SPaaS provides a comprehensive overview and enables users to get the most out of their operations. It is a turnkey solution, easily implemented into any business process. The AI-based predictions of the solution is continuously improving and are significantly more accurate than other data sources used by the port actors today.

Awake.AI stated the benefits to include the following:

  • Better operational planning and more efficient port calls
  • Highly improved situational awareness
  • Shared and transparent communication
  • Greater operational efficiency

The ability to predict accurately originates from Awake.AI’s AI algorithms, utilizing multiple data sources, such as weather forecasts, vessel information and historical data. With more accurate predictions, all port call actors will save time and costs while increasing their operational efficiency.

To make precise predictions, Awake.AI also uses machine learning (ML) methods as an integral part of its service offering. ML enables progressive streamlining of operations by analyzing and gaining understanding from vast amounts of data. In addition, ML can provide a better general overview of the business environment.

Read more about the Smart Port Mobile on Awake.AI’s website.

Espoo named one of six top innovation hotspots in Europe

The City of Espoo has landed, for the second time in as many years, in the top six of the European Capital of Innovation Awards, a competition run and funded under the EU’s Horizon 2020.

The Finnish city accepted the award as recognition of its success in providing an attractive innovation and operating environment for forward-looking companies and educational and research partners. Its efforts on social, cultural, economic and environmental sustainability aim to discover solutions to urban sustainability challenges, such as inclusion, employment, climate change and economic recovery, in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

“Espoo is committed to implementing the Sustainable Development Goals by 2025, five years before the deadline,” highlighted Mayor Jukka Mäkelä.

“This is a good agenda for innovation work with companies and educational and research partners. It supports Espoo’s economic competitiveness and sustainability.”

The 270 000-resident city also called attention to its deep-rooted tradition of pursuing innovation through a network consisting of the likes of Fortum, Neste, Nokia, Aalto University and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.

For the innovations to be impactful, it is crucial that also local residents contribute to the process, stressed Mäkelä.

“We provide services that support the wellbeing and daily lives of our residents. If we want our services to be resident-oriented, residents need to be involved in our development work. We are successful in everything that people get involved in,” he declared.

Espoo will use the 100 000-euro prize primarily to support the innovation activities of children and young people.

Belgium’s Leuven was named this year’s capital of innovation in Europe. Cluj-Napoca (RO), Helsingborg (SE), Valencia (ES) and Vienna (AT) were the four other finalists in the competition, which annually casts the spotlight on cities that come up innovative solutions to social challenges that engage and empower their residents.

Read more from Good News from Finland website.

The world’s first MaaS operator commits to replace one million cars by 2030

MaaS Global, the world’s first MaaS operator, is now carbon neutral. The company has calculated its carbon footprint and offset CO2 emissions from not only its operations but also from customers trips made by using the company’s award-winning Whim app.

– We are happy to announce that you can now take carbon neutral trips by traveling withWhim. On our path to sustainable freedom of mobility we must “avoid, reduce”, and for now, also “compensate”. We aren’t yet able to avoid CO2 emissions entirely, and​​ for this reason we have offset our full carbon footprint for 2019 as the first MaaS operator.We will also do this for 2020 and for the coming years, says Krista Huhtala-Jenks, Head of Ecosystem and Sustainability at Maas Global.

– As we do not have our own means of transportation, we are working closely with our partners to increase the green and emission-free service​​offering for Whim users. At the same time, we want to challenge the entire industry to develop carbon-free movement, she continues.

Global sustainability initiative to replace one million cars

To mark the World Car Free Day, MaaS Global has launched a global sustainability initiative. The company is today committing to replace 1 million private cars with Whim subscriptions by 2030.

– Transport is the only sector that hasn’t been able to cut its emissions below the 1990values. At the moment, one quarter of global emissions come from transport. If nothing changes, a whopping 40 % of global CO2 emissions will come from transport by 2030, says Huhtala-Jenks.

– Our dream is a world where you don’t need to own a car to lead a happy and hassle-free life. We want to help cities so that they wouldn’t have to make policies to restrict cars because there would be better alternatives available. We call this alternative sustainable freedom of mobility. For this reason Whim exists. But in order to succeed, we need help. We have created a global sustainability initiative to get commitment from the MaaS industry, as well as from people, to find better alternatives to private car ownership, Huhtala-Jenks continues.

Read more about global sustainability initiative:

https://whimapp.com/sustainability/initiative/

More information:

Krista Huhtala-Jenks, ​Head of Ecosystem & Sustainability, ​MaaS Global

krista.huhtala-jenks@maas.global

+358 40 759 3718

Tallinn University of Technology, Pylot and Telia are for the first time testing cross-border remote operation of an autonomous vehicle

Self-driving cars have become a reality, but they still require human intervention. Even the most advanced autonomous technology cannot solve all traffic situations, as it sometimes requires decision-making logic machines are not capable of.

To test those scenarios, Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) built Iseauto, a self-driving shuttle. Now for the first time, TalTech, German teleoperations company Pylot and Telia in Estonia are using 5G technology to test cross-border remote control of the driverless shuttle.

“When Iseauto requires manual intervention, an operator in the remote control center in Munich can take over the car, solve the situation and then release the control back to the automated system,“ explains Raivo Sell, Senior Researcher & Program Manager of Product Development and Robotics at TalTech.

5G solves two main issues. “Firstly, it enables much faster data speeds needed for high-quality live video transmission. Secondly, 5G has much lower latency, which means that the vehicle can be controlled remotely without a delay,“ Sell says.

Telia and TalTech have a long-term strategic partnership on research and development of digital technologies.

“We started the preparations for implementing the 5G technology in Estonia already in 2016. In the autumn of 2017, we showcased an excavator remotely controlled over 5G at the Digital Summit. Our current cooperation with TalTech on the Iseauto project takes our R&D process to a new level by testing the technology across country borders,“ says Telia Estonia’s CTO Andre Visse.

Read more and watch the video here.

Blog: Sensible 4 makes The Dongfeng CM7 autonomous

One of the autonomous vehicles in the FABULOS pilot project last spring in Helsinki’s Pasila region was an ordinary-looking minibus. The only way to tell it’s not your everyday vehicle are the markings and sensors attached to it. But what truly matters, the technology, is located inside.

Built by the Chinese manufacturer Dongfeng, the Fengxing CM7 was introduced in 2013 and usually runs on diesel. Dongfeng has invested in the southern Swedish firm T-Engineering, which specializes in engine control and engine tuning. T-Engineering was given the task to convert the Pasila minibus into an electric vehicle. The diesel engine and all its parts, such as the fuel tank and the exhaust system, were removed and replaced with electric technology.

ELECTRIC CONVERSION WITH A LOW-VOLTAGE BATTERY

What makes this electric conversion special is the battery and the engine. As a prototype of an autonomous vehicle that will never be driven fast or in hilly terrain, the power of the car is not particularly relevant. The CM7 tops out at 30 km/h, which is more than enough for an environment like Pasila where the FABULOS pilot was taking place.

Low power requirements make it possible to use a low-voltage traction battery. Typically, electric cars use high-voltage batteries, such as 400V systems. However, in this case, T-Engineering was able to use a 48V battery. A low-voltage battery simplifies the constant adjustment and installation work that a prototype car requires as there are fewer safety concerns.

The driver usually turns the steering wheel and operates the turn signals, but in an autonomous vehicle, a computer takes care of these functions. What is needed is a control system that is attached to the mechatronics and actuators required for driving and controlling a car.

So in addition to the electric powertrain, T-Engineering also installed an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) in the car. The ECU was specially developed by T-Engineering, and it offers both the drive control and diagnostics features.

With these changes, the CM7 was transformed into an electric platform for installing other technology needed for autonomous driving. Sensible 4 then installed the autonomous driving computer, the software and the intelligent capabilities and created an autonomous vehicle based on this platform. Now the car can pinpoint its location in all weather conditions, recognize obstacles in its way and use the decision-making features needed for autonomous driving.

SOFTWARE IS AT THE HEART OF AUTONOMOUS DRIVING

When it comes down to it, sensors are quite simple devices. The real magic lies in the computer that interprets the flow of information from the sensors and reads the commands of the Remote Control Center (RCC). The computer makes decisions on driving based on this information.

The commands are sent to the electric control unit. Control of the car is then transferred to the motors and the servos that set the vehicle in motion. The turning of the wheels and the angle of the turns are measured, and this information is returned to Sensible 4’s control systems. Steering systems also relay information to systems outside the car. The CM7’s driving can be monitored in the Remote Control Center using both maps and video feeds. Driving systems are always somewhat inaccurate which must be considered when driving the vehicle.

The cooperation between Dongfeng’s CM7 and T-Engineering is a great example of retrofitted automatization – and how Sensible 4’s technology can be installed in all kinds of vehicles.

Blog by Tuomas Sauliala, read more from the Sensible 4’s website.

Vaisala Digital delivers real-time, comprehensive weather data to new Hyundai Motor Company vehicles

The inclusion of Vaisala’s digital weather information offering bolsters Hyundai’s focus on driver safety and positions the company as an advocate for innovative connected car services. 

Vaisala, a global leader in weather, environmental, and industrial measurement, today announced at TU-Automotive Detroit an agreement with Hyundai Motors to deliver Vaisala Infotainment Weather, a digital offering that provides drivers essential proactive information from in-vehicle infotainment systems about weather and driving conditions.

“With approximately one in every four traffic accidents stemming from inclement weather conditions, our wide-ranging service helps drivers remain aware of weather conditions along their routes and in close proximity to the vehicle’s current location,” said Markus Melin, Vice President of Vaisala Digital. “Even in locations where weather measurements are not easily obtained, our technology is able to predict conditions according to a driver’s route.”

Vaisala Infotainment Weather delivers location-based weather information – like temperature, precipitation, and wind speed – for Hyundai’s LIVE services. Building a successful in-vehicle weather service requires consideration of very dynamic weather conditions combined with the ever-changing position of the car, which demands highly sophisticated methods for local and timely weather data production and delivery.

Vaisala Digital in the automotive industry

In addition to providing an infotainment weather offering for connected cars, Vaisala Digital – which creates industry-leading digital solutions to support customers with weather critical operations — also offers advanced road surface condition datasets for automotive use cases. Leveraging more than 20 years of road weather experience, Vaisala delivers industry-leading sensors, a mobile data collection system, and world-class forecasting capabilities that provide real-time calculated driving condition forecasts (including the state of the road’s surface, visibility, and atmospheric weather events affecting driving) to any coordinate point around the globe. Vaisala forecasts are trusted in the winter maintenance industry by road authorities in a number of countries.

“Now that vehicles are increasingly connected, high-quality infotainment weather information is certainly a valuable commodity,” said Melin. “But leveraging today’s most advanced road weather technologies – beyond forecasting – to provide drivers with actionable information on road surface conditions, prediction of road friction, and other offerings will become invaluable in the future as vehicles with advanced driver assistance systems increasingly integrate onto our roadways around the globe. Accurate and detailed weather-related information and guidance is extremely useful for both drivers and connected vehicles.”

For more information about the Vaisala Infotainment Weather solution and the company’s other road weather technologies, please visit www.vaisala.com.