Combining transport solutions to solve rural mobility challenges
16/02/2022
Around the world, rural transport facilities and services are essential elements to drive growth and unlock equity potential. Good rural road infrastructure and services drive agriculture, commerce, trade, industry and allow populations to access opportunities such as education, jobs, health, culture and social activities. It is no wonder that rural transport plays a critical role in achieving no less than half of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Yet, rural mobility has received far less attention from decision makers than urban mobility. Peri-urban and rural areas are in drastic need of support. Traditional bus or rail transport cannot always withstand the geographic needs and service provisions required by these areas and so complementary and supportive solutions can make a world of difference.
Now, RIDE2RAIL coordinator UITP has released a new Knowledge Brief, ‘The rural mobility challenge for public transport: How combined mobility can help‘, containing main takeaways and successful strategies for combined mobility solutions, covering different degrees of rurality from the urban fringes to remote areas.
Combining public transport with more tailored on-demand and shared mobility services, including peer-to-peer and volunteer-based solutions, can go a long way towards overcoming long-standing mobility deficits in rural areas.
How RIDE2RAIL wants to boost access in rural areas
One of the UITP projects aiming to overcome mobility deficits in rural areas is RIDE2RAIL, which has the objective to develop a framework for intelligent multimodal mobility, facilitating the combination of flexible transport services with scheduled transport. Seeing especially in rural areas few rail options might be available, RIDE2RAIL wants to boost access to public transport through innovative options, such as ridesharing.
Overall, RIDE2RAIl will encourage carpooling and ride sharing acceptance as complementary for public transport to enhance the performance of the overall mobility system, reduce road congestion, and reinforce the mobility offer in rural and low-demand areas. Demos to test project activities are planned to start in Summer 2022 in Padua and Athens and in Autumn 2022 in Brno and Helsinki.
Read the Knowledge Brief here!