Sustainable Shared Rural Mobility - Smart Pilot Solutions

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Sustainability

Sustainable Shared Rural Mobility – Smart Pilot Solutions

Rural mobility promoting sustainable shared mobility solutions.

Trikala City Council

Greece

Local policy

POLICY OBJECTIVE

SMARTA2 focuses on rural mobility in practice. Its aim is to implement shared sustainable mobility solutions in East Tyrol (Austria), the city of Trikala (Greece), Águeda (Portugal), and Brasov (Romania). These four European rural regions, spanning various geographical areas, populations and mobility challenges, have set up assorted sustainable mobility services, interconnecting them with existing public transport and increasing the range of environmentally-friendly and cost-efficient mobility options for local citizens.

The impact of these new services was monitored and assessed under a common evaluation framework, developed by the SMARTA project. The evidence gathered is expected to foster policy discussions at the regional and European level on how to leverage sustainable shared rural mobility solutions in the future.

CONTEXT

The European Union is committed to address the mobility needs of people living in rural areas and foster their participation in all aspects of economic and social life. In this context, in 2018 the European Commission funded the SMARTA project as a chance to conceptualise, identify and pilot smart rural transport solutions.

To measure the contribution of smart transport solutions to the issues faced by rural areas, SMARTA created an evaluation framework to assess how sustainable, shared and on-demand mobility solutions can help enhance the travel experience of rural populations.

POLICY DESCRIPTION

Under SMARTA2, the city of Trikala has created and set up a carpooling system, operated via an online application allowing users to check real-time public transport information along with available carpooling options in the area, thus facilitating travel between Megala Kalyvia, Megarchi, and the city of Trikala. The app also includes an on-demand bus request service and booking system for other supporting services like storage lockers, wheelchair scooters and bicycles, offered at the Info Point in Trikala’s central square.

Given Trikala’s long and successful history of implementing sustainable and novel mobility solutions, a very active mobility community already exists and is positive in promoting new ideas like SMARTA2. We are currently working to evaluate the service and create a viable plan in terms of service sustainability, use, and upscaling.

KEY ASPECTS

What is interesting about SMARTA2 Project – Pilot services:

Bottom-up approach: through dedicated workshops, citizens do not simply consume but co-design the transport services that can best meet their needs and help select intervention sites in each pilot area.
Behavioural incentives –along with financial ones– to increase citizen acceptance of pilot services. The impact of these incentives will be gauged in order to reach useful conclusions about developing appropriate incentives to support sustainable rural mobility.
Probable spillover on local economies: besides providing cost-efficient and environmentally-friendly transport solutions, the new services are likely to improve the continuous flow of citizens from the surrounding rural areas to the city centre.
Collection of both quantitative and qualitative data to find out what works and why in all four rural areas. Findings will be discussed at regional policy level to identify possible actions at regional and supra-regional levels to support sustainable shared rural mobility solutions in the future.

RESULTS

Positive impact of the free carpooling application in the local community of Trikala:

Less than 5 minutes is needed to register to the free carpooling platform.
Citizens of the participating rural areas are connected to the city centre when they need it, with no need to wait for the next bus! Citizens save time and money by carpooling with their fellow citizens.
Users of the carpooling app have the city at their fingertips! Users of the car-sharing app can check bus arrivals or book mobility and transport services offered at Trikala’s main square.
Citizens become agents of change, helping to reduce traffic and CO2 emissions in the city.

Policy's Website

Cristina

Karaberi

e-Trikala s.a. Research & Communication Department

xkaraberi@e-trikala.gr

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