2026 TRANSPORT SECTOR HEALTH INDEX: FINLAND LEADS EUROPE'S TRANSPORT SYSTEMS
The Smart Transportation Alliance (STA) has launched the Transport Sector Health Index (TSHI), a new benchmark designed to provide a comprehensive assessment of the performance of national transport systems across Europe.
Transport systems are a key driver of economic growth, social inclusion and environmental sustainability, playing a central role in achieving Europe's vision of a safe, efficient and sustainable transport system. The TSHI addresses the absence of a single, standardised benchmark by combining 16 indicators from official, publicly available sources into four equally weighted dimensions:
Accessibility & Usage
Safety & Reliability
Environmental Performance
Efficiency & Integration
Together, these dimensions provide a comprehensive assessment of national transport system performance and enable meaningful comparisons between countries. The first edition assesses 32 European countries (European Union, European Economic Area, Switzerland and the United Kingdom), of which 24 countries met the minimum data requirements for inclusion in the ranking.
The 2026 results place Finland first with an overall TSHI score of 74.9, followed by Denmark (72.9) and Austria (69.2), reflecting consistently strong performance across all four dimensions. At the lower end of the ranking, Croatia (39.3), Greece (40.6) and Malta (40.7) indicate significant opportunities for improvement.
The findings also show that Europe's largest economies do not top the ranking. Despite their economic strength and extensive transport networks, France ranks seventh and Germany ninth, demonstrating that the scale of a transport network alone does not guarantee high-performing transport systems.
The Index further highlights the importance of robust data for effective benchmarking. Eight countries (Belgium, Cyprus, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Slovakia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom) could not be ranked due to insufficient data availability, reinforcing the need to improve the availability and consistency of publicly available transport data to support evidence-based policymaking.
Beyond the rankings, the TSHI demonstrates that high-performing transport systems are those that achieve balanced outcomes: accessible services, safe and reliable mobility, reduced environmental impact, and efficient, well-integrated networks.
The Smart Transportation Alliance intends for the Transport Sector Health Index to become an annual benchmark for assessing transport sector performance across Europe, enabling countries to track progress over time, share best practices, and support the development of more accessible, safer, more efficient and more sustainable transport systems.