MATAVA – Development of Goods Transport in Rural Areas
Enhancing Vitality and Competitiveness in Northern Ostrobothnia with Improved Transport Services
Branch: Digitalisation
Duration: 1.5.2024 – 31.8.2026
Region: North Ostrobothnia
Financed by: European Regional Development Fund,
Council of Oulu Region
Project Manager: Jyri Mäkelä
Developing transport services that meet the needs of sparsely populated areas is crucial for ensuring the vitality and competitiveness of the municipalities, businesses, and residents of Northern Ostrobothnia. The limited resources, volume of goods transport, long distances, fragmented service structure, and sparse population in rural areas pose unique challenges for transport operations. The recent steep rise in fuel prices adds significant costs to businesses and service users in these long-distance areas, highlighting the need for more efficient transport solutions to save costs.
Objectives
The main goal of the MATAVA project is to find solutions to the transport problems of rural areas, improving the service level and speed to better meet the needs of the region. This includes implementing transport solutions that reduce fuel consumption, costs, workload, and environmental impact. Another objective is to foster collaboration between municipalities, businesses, private individuals, and transport organizations, breaking traditional organizational barriers and creating opportunities for new types of service companies to operate in the transport sector.
Methods to achieve these objectives may include:
- Crowdsourced goods transport
- Transport with autonomous vehicles
- Combining transport services of municipalities, businesses, and private individuals
Activities
The project will address the goods transport issues of businesses, society, and residents by developing appropriate cooperation and business models, as well as technical solutions utilizing digitalization. The functionality of these solutions will be tested in pilot projects with partners.
Partners and Funders
The MATAVA project is co-funded by the European Union. Other funders include the City of Pudasjärvi, the Municipality of Liminka, and the implementing organizations.
The project is carried out in collaboration with Iin Micropolis Oy, the University of Oulu, Centria University of Applied Sciences, and Oulu University of Applied Sciences.