New project integrates public transport in rural areas with new mobility solutions
Vinnova has granted IVL Swedish Environment Research Institute 4 million SEK to develop business models to strengthen cooperation between public transport operators and new car-pooling services in sparsely populated and rural areas. The so-called Collaborative Public Transport Project will run for three years.
– We want it to be easier to travel collectively even in sparsely populated and rural areas. Today, public transport in these areas is not attractive enough to provide an alternative to driving your own car, says IVL Åsa Hult, who will be responsible for a large part of the project. But investments in this area must be cost-effective; society’s public transport costs are increasingly incommensurate with public transport usage. So, if we are to succeed in limiting climate impact we must reduce the use of personal vehicles in every way we can. This means that the services developed within the project must be attractive to those who currently have access to their own cars and often use them for their own daily commute. – There is an equity perspective here as well. Cities often set the norm in ongoing initiatives and strategies for new mobility services such as car and bicycle pools. We want to challenge this, says Anders Roth, mobility expert at IVL. In addition to developing business models for interconnection between public transport and so-called collaborative passenger transport, the project will test new mobility services in rural areas and, not least, disseminate information about options for sustainable travel in these areas. The project will be carried out as a collaboration between IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, SAMOT, Mobilsamåkning and Blekingetrafiken. For more information, please contact: Anders Roth, anders.roth@ivl.se, +46 (0)10-788 69 16 Åsa Hult, asa.hult@ivl.se, +46 (0)10-788 69 28