Unpacking the cultural aspects of transport automation governance in Finland: An interview study

The culture that governance networks uphold is an often-overlooked aspect in transport policy studies. Nonetheless, governance culture plays a major part in how governing is done in practice. This article explores the cultural elements that have constituted the Finnish governance approach to road transport automation. Through in-depth interviews with a range of governance actors, we identified several cultural elements that have affected the governance of transport automation in Finland. These include the historic commitment to the system of automobility in terms of ideology and materialities, the taboos and persistent techno-economic rationales of transport governance, the recent shift from infrastructure-focused governance paradigm to one that emphasises the enablement of innovation, internationally espoused narratives surrounding transport automation and the network's (mis)understanding of roles, responsibilities and agency. For the Finnish transport governance network, acknowledging and addressing these aspects of the governance culture offers a chance to create more democratic and comprehensive governance processes.