Five lessons learned from Smart Mobility testbed operations in Helsinki

Forum Virium Helsinki and Business Helsinki’s joint project Mobility Lab Helsinki has provided businesses and research institutions with opportunities to test new smart traffic solutions in a genuine urban environment. A large proportion of our operations have focused particularly on the Jätkäsaari and Ruoholahti districts, which have been well-suited for testing new products and services as they form a developing area that features a wide variety of modes of transport, up to and including harbour traffic.

Among other things, businesses have applauded our ability to seek out suitable implementation places in the urban environment for trials and find the right parties within the city to take part in the trials. With our trial platform operations, we are promoting businesses’ research, development and innovation operations and the creation of new business activities while also producing better solutions for the city and its residents.

1. Collecting traffic data improves safety

Collecting traffic data is necessary for the development of smart traffic. The Mobility Lab Helsinki project has involved trying various innovative methods for collecting traffic data. For example, a new kind of traffic sensor named FlowCube was tested in the Kaisantunneli tunnel. The sensor detects and measures all modes of transport, including cyclists and pedestrians, and measures travel times in addition to the number of travellers.  

On Helsinki’s Esplanadi street, data was collected by using LiDAR technology. LiDAR sensors collect data on vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians. When the sensors combine their data, they provide an accurate picture of aspects such as the driving routes of the area, dangerous situations, and pedestrian and non-motorised traffic volumes.

A device named Telraam was also utilised in the collection of traffic data. Telraam is a small and affordable sensor that counts and classifies traffic by using AI. It is easy to install in places such as the window of a home. The Teelram device has been tested in Helsinki at residents’ homes, at lunch restaurants and bars, and at schools and higher education institutions.

2. The Data Catalog creates continuity

A Data Catalog has been created in the Mobility Lab Helsinki project to bring support and continuity for the time after the innovation trials. The Data Catalog compiles data materials relevant from the perspective of the digital twin of mobility, such as traffic and mobility data, condition and context data and street infrastructure data.

The Catalog compiles both open and paid data, such as public data materials, data generated in trials by Forum Virium Helsinki and data materials produced by businesses. Businesses and public operators can add their own data materials to the Data Catalog, improving the visibility of their services. 

Over the course of the project, the Catalog has had thousands of users, and its data materials have been developed further by more than 40 operators. In the future, open data from the trials will be available in the Helsinki Region Infoshare service, while more experimental data materials will be provided on the Forum Virium Helsinki website.

3. Developing the digital twin of mobility and utilising AI to help with planning

The digital twin of mobility is a virtual model of the city’s transport system. It compiles data from different sources, such as traffic counting, public transport schedules and weather information. The digital twin can be utilised for purposes such as traffic simulation and the testing of new solutions.

The Mobility Lab Helsinki project has involved developing the digital twin in collaboration with businesses through several trials. These trials have yielded new ways to produce information about Helsinki’s traffic signs and other traffic control equipment. Operators have also promoted the development of the data models and resources of the City of Helsinki’s digital twin of traffic and supported their effective utilisation. 

Additionally, the project has involved researching and testing new methods, such as using AI in information modelling of the current state of street environments and street asset management.

4. Resident engagement creates solutions that meet needs

Engaging residents is a key part of developing a smart and sustainable urban environment. The Mobility Lab Helsinki project has actively utilised the views and experiences of residents. For example, the project took part in the annual Hyvän Tuulen Fest resident event held in Jätkäsaari. The event involved collecting feedback and ideas for developing the traffic and services of the area. 

The project organised several resident evenings for the residents of Jätkäsaari and Ruoholahti. Forum Virium Helsinki’s Kokeilujoukot volunteer groups took part in testing a new smart bicycle parking hub and the Telraam traffic calculation devices. 

Higher education institutions and students have been closely involved in the operations of the project. Students of Haaga-Helia, collaborating with Parisian and Czech higher education institutions, walked around Jätkäsaari to interview citizens. 

The Dreamwaves startup also presented the residents of Jätkäsaari with a new accessibility app that residents can use to report various obstacles hindering mobility in the street space.

Resident engagement is important to ensure that new solutions meet actual needs and promote the wellbeing of residents.

5. Promoting cycling supports the reduction of traffic emissions

The Mobility Lab Helsinki project supports the Helsinki City Strategy, an important climate objective of which is to reduce traffic emissions. Since the closing of Helsinki’s coal power plants, traffic has been the city’s greatest emission source. 

Mobility Lab Helsinki has supported the promotion of cycling through several trials. In Jätkäsaari, we tested a new way to measure the condition of cycling paths with sensors. In the method developed by the company TerrainSense, sensors attached to bicycles measured the unevenness of road surfaces and recorded this information in a mobile app. The trial promoted the planning of cycling paths and improving their condition, as well as safe mobility.

In front of Kiasma, we tested an advanced bicycle parking hub by Bikeloop, at which people can book a private parking space for their bike and leave their cycling gear, such as their helmet, securely in the facility. This makes running errands in the city and continuing travel on other modes of transport, such as a train or tram, considerably easier.

In Kaisaniemi, we used non-motorised traffic tunnel counters to measure not only the number of people using the tunnel, but also their speeds and travel times. Based on more detailed data on travel times, it would be possible to control walking and cycling traffic in real time based on congestion and also to remove snow from the streets that cyclists and pedestrians are using the most. 

 Challenges and new opportunities

Mobility Lab Helsinki has been a success, but there have also been challenges along the way. Finding parties to involve and resources takes a lot of work: aspects such as a suitable place, installations, permits, costs and the time reserved for the trial must be coordinated carefully. Recruiting the right end users, i.e. trial participants, also depends a lot on people’s level of interest. We remind businesses that a trial does not mean a procurement promise. Trials yield plenty of new knowledge and boosts for product development, but after the trial, the ball is in the business’s court.

Even though the Mobility Lab Helsinki project will be concluded at the end of 2024, our work on the subject will continue! We will continue our innovation operations and the development of smart traffic by increasing areal cooperation: our SOLMU project will start at the end of 2024 and last until the end of 2026. In SOLMU, Forum Virium Helsinki, Business Helsinki and the City of Espoo will collaborate to develop transport service business activities, focusing particularly on the mobility points of traffic hubs and commercial services related to them. 

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