Kela and special groups

Traficom pilot: over 70 percent of subsidised taxi rides could be combined, in practice about 35 percent

21 October 2026, updated 1 November 2026 · Taksiuutiset editorial team

According to Traficom, the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency, over 70 percent of the Kela and wellbeing services county taxi rides in the pilot regions could have been combined under certain assumptions. The agency estimates that in practice about 35 percent could be carried out.

What the pilot studied

Early this year Traficom collected data on Kela and wellbeing services county taxi rides in Lapland, Kainuu, Central Ostrobothnia and North Ostrobothnia. Yle reported the results on 21 October 2026. According to the agency, over 70 percent of rides could have been combined if they had been ordered from the same dispatch centre and the customers had been flexible in their departure times by fifteen minutes to half an hour.

Combining means, according to Yle, that at least two customers travel in the same ride. The figures are therefore calculated and concern only four regions. According to Traficom's own description, these are the first findings of a data pilot.

According to Traficom, the taxi rides organised by Kela and the wellbeing services counties cost a little over 450 million euros a year. Counting municipalities' school transport, the total costs are almost 550 million euros. Yle reports that the agency estimates that a ten percent annual saving would reduce the costs of Kela and wellbeing services county rides alone by over 45 million euros.

Taksiliitto's response

Taksiliitto (the Finnish taxi federation) takes a critical view of the calculated savings and responded on 28 October 2026. According to the federation, rides that can be combined on a computer cannot necessarily be combined in real life. The federation's acting managing director Johanna Rautio reminds that the Disability Services Act sets limits on combining. According to her, Kela's tender model, in which two separate providers operate in a region, and customers' right to a preferred taxi also affect the possibilities for combining.

Petri Palviainen, managing director of Jyväskylän Aluetaksi, asks who bears responsibility if the pursuit of savings leads to unreasonable waiting for the customer or a longer travel time.

What this means for you

• The pilot does not change the rules as such. It is an estimate of what combining could achieve.
• Pipsa Eklund, Traficom's development director, stresses that it is important to find ways to use existing rides efficiently, especially in sparsely populated areas. If you drive Kela or social and health care rides in these areas, follow whether decisions come from the pilot.
• The background assumptions of the figures are orders from the same dispatch centre and flexibility of fifteen minutes to half an hour in departure times.

Dates: Yle published the article on 21 October 2026, and the date on Traficom's newsletter page is 30 October 2026. Sources read on 1 November 2026.