Search results

To offer knowledge about the global development of large-scale demand responsive transport systems (DRT), and to stimulate dialogue and collaboration for further innovation and improvement of these systems.

A review of the literature shows how DRT has evolved from the first applications in the 1970s to very complex operations in the last two decades with hundreds of vehicles and thousands of passengers every day. Data collection from available sources on the Internet and personal communications during international projects, conferences, and networking are used to quantify the development and status for large-scale DRT.

In the last decade, DRT is moving slowly ahead with real progress in some countries. The “Danish Model” is a good example of how to organize DRT for the best possible coordination of different mobility services, both “open” to the general market and for the special needs market. Such integration is also observed in a few places in the United States, and some European countries. For a real progress there is a great need and potential for international collaboration, as has been the case for most other sectors.

This is the first known attempt to collect information and compile a list of the 30 largest DRT systems in the world. This is used to analyze trends and provide insight into new directions for large-scale DRT systems. Suggestions for collaboration in various aspects of DRT should be valuable to organizations and policy makers with interest and power to further DRT innovations and operations.

This chapter identifies the reasons why widespread and large-scale development of DRT has not emerged in the past 10 years even though previous research and analysis had suggested that conditions existed to facilitate such development.

Drawing on personal experience of operating DRT networks, supplemented by an analysis of the operating environment, operational barriers to implementation are identified.

Research results into the identified inhibiting factors are presented and supplemented by personal experience and interviews with key individuals. A successful integrated approach that has allowed a large DRT network to develop is described.

Recent changes in financial and structural conditions affecting the suitability of DRT in the United Kingdom as a solution to unmet travel needs and as a cost-effective alternative to conventional passenger transport are described. It is suggested that these factors have the potential to overcome barriers to further development. However, remaining obstacles in the field of Telematics are identified which may need further attention.

Introduction of large-scale DRT networks will not only be more cost effective but also offset financially driven service reductions and allow unmet travel needs to be met.

The identification of financial, technical, legal and social obstacles to the widespread implementation of DRT allows barriers to be addressed and removed and the full benefits of DRT to be realised. At a time of financial constraint, this allows more economic and integrated passenger transport solutions to be introduced to benefit both end users and service commissioners.

To assess how advances in technology are changing the market prospects for paratransit, particularly DRT services.

To review recent developments in technology-enabled paratransit service through their impact on the supply curve for local transportation.

Some technology-enabled paratransit services, notably one-way car sharing and shared ride services offered by transportation network companies (TNCs), have been successful in generating significant usage within the past 24 months in Europe as well as the United States. At the same time, the introduction of technological advances in a comprehensive technology platform used for general public DRT services in Denver has not resulted in a ridership response of a large magnitude. Similarly, technology-enabled micro-transit services have had difficulty attracting sustainable levels of ridership. This suggests only some packages of technological innovations are able to shift the transportation supply curve. The key appears to be the development of a comprehensive technology platform which makes the new service simple and convenient to engage, use, and pay for; it is also highly advantageous if the service is less costly to the end user than existing alternatives.

Technology-enabled improvements of paratransit/DRT services are feasible and increasingly available, but the evidence shows that only when the use of technology significantly shifts the supply curve for local transportation that major impacts occur.

To provide concrete evidence as to the circumstances in which technology can make a significant impact on paratransit’s market prospects, but also identifies some of the limits to technology being able to create such impacts.

People with dementia in hospital are susceptible to delirium, pain and psychological symptoms. These diagnoses are associated with worse patient outcomes, yet are often underdiagnosed and undertreated. Distress is common in people experiencing delirium, pain and psychological symptoms. Screening for distress may therefore be a sensitive way of recognising unmet needs. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development and feasibility testing of the Distress Recognition Tool (DRT). The DRT is a single question screening tool that is incorporated into existing hospital systems. It encourages healthcare professionals to regularly look for distress and signposts them to relevant resources when distress is identified.

The authors tested the feasibility of using the DRT in people with dementia admitted on two general hospital wards. Mixed methods were used to assess uptake and potential mechanisms of impact, including frequency of use, observation of ward processes and semi-structured interviews with primary stakeholders.

Over a 52-day period, the DRT was used during routine care of 32 participants; a total of 346 bed days. The DRT was completed 312 times; an average of 0.9 times per participant per day. Where participants had an identified carer, 83 per cent contributed to the assessment at least once during the admission. Thematic analysis of stakeholder interviews, and observational data suggested that the DRT was quick and simple to complete, improved ward awareness of distress and had the potential to improve care for people with dementia admitted to hospital.

This is the first short screening tool for routinely detecting distress in dementia in any setting. Its uptake was positive, and if effective it could improve care and outcomes for people with dementia, however it was beyond the scope of the study test this.

An increasing literature focuses on how Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) may contribute to improve public transport. However, qualitative studies about whether such services contribute to social inclusion are lacking. The aim is therefore to understand how citizens experience DRT services.

For this purpose, we compare the different local public transport solutions in three rural municipalities in Norway. One case represents a conventional public transport service with a school bus that is open for all. The two other cases represent DRT solutions with different characteristics in terms of how extensive the services are. The data are qualitative, gathered via interviews and focus groups.

We find that who the users are and their patterns of use differ between the cases. The more extensive the service is, the more popular it is – even to the extent that leisure clubs adapt their start and end times to the public transport routes. Moreover, the evidence suggests that door-to-door transport is crucial for the ability of many people of older age to travel.

The need for door-to-door services means that flexibility has to be incorporated into DRT schemes with fixed bus stops, if the aim is to cover all citizens.

The insights about how not only the users themselves experience different transport services, but also their relations, provide added value. Finally, we argue that, given among others the dispersion of transport responsibilities on different political levels and sectors, the DRT services have not been successful in solving efficiency issues.

Bicycling enthusiasts have been organizing community events in US cities to demonstrate how bicycles may be of use in the aftermath of a disaster event. The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceived value of these events and levels of engagement in the same amongst emergency managers, community organizers and bicycling advocates.

Data were collected through 21 in-depth, telephone interviews with emergency management officials and bicycling advocates in bicycle-friendly jurisdictions in the USA and analyzed using initial and focused coding, analytic memos and theoretical sorting.

The study found that event organizers and other bicycle advocates widely embraced the concept as a means to change societal perceptions of bicycles as viable modes of transportation, indicating at least some level of interest in taking an active role in its pursuit. Emergency managers were generally receptive to the idea, but they largely saw the value as restricted to raising public awareness about hazards and individual preparedness measures; and they mostly envisioned for themselves a minimal role in event planning and execution.

The findings suggest that when operating in a resource-poor environment with limited public and political support, there are innovative partnerships and ideas that can be successfully leveraged to advance multiple purposes.

Almost no empirical research has looked at the disaster relief trial concept, given the relative newness and novelty of the idea. An examination of perceived value of disaster-oriented community bicycling events seems warranted as such events continue to grow in existing locations and emerge in new locales each year.

Climate-related disasters are the most representative in terms of recurrence and impacts. To reduce them, risk transfer is a key strategy for climate risk management. However, this approach does not consider the socioeconomic vulnerability of each population group, limiting its effectiveness. The objective of this paper is to improve and increase the usefulness of risk transfer through the Differential Risk Transfer (DRT) approach.

A comprehensive and systematic review of the state of the art on Differential Approach (DA) is presented, and its connection with existing models of vulnerability to disasters is analysed. Through epistemic deliberations, an operational definition of Differential Risk Transfer (DRT), as well as its advantages are discussed. Finally, general guidelines are presented for the implementation of the DRT in a specific context.

The results confirm that DA presents a clear relation with the models for the study of disaster vulnerability. The small group discussions agree with the usefulness of DRT for improving climate-related risk management.

This paper argues for the inclusion of the DRT approach in the climate risk management strategies aiming to fill the disaggregated data gaps that limit the potentiality and accuracy of risk transfer schemes worldwide.

This innovative approach improves the accuracy of the risk transfer mechanisms through the recognition of the differences of ethnicity, gender and life cycle that increase socioeconomic vulnerability to climate-related disasters.

Technological and cultural changes of the past decade have revealed new ways to use the object of the car as demand responsive yet not private. Cars are increasingly able to fulfil the aims of demand responsive transport (DRT), by providing equitable access to flexible, yet sustainable, transport. This chapter outlines the conceptual and empirical case for this increasingly dynamic form of DRT and labels it ‘cars on demand’.

A review of literature and practice is used to detail characteristics of cars on demand, and the reasons for its emergence. Key features are illustrated using examples from around the world.

Cars on demand is a rapidly changing field. New economic models of provision are emerging, yet not all are designed to fulfil the aims of DRT by making transport more sustainable or equitable. These models do, however, contribute to making cars on demand work by encouraging transition from a culture of private-car ownership, to one where the car is an object ‘just’ for use. Cars on demand can therefore contribute to the fracturing of the powerful system of private-car use. Its relationship with decreased vehicle kilometres travelled (VKT) and transport disadvantage is, however, complex and vulnerable to erosion. This vulnerability can be mitigated by regulation and better understanding through research.

This chapter provides a novel conceptualisation of the way the object of the car is used in a demand responsive way. It contributes to understandings of regulatory issues surrounding shared mobility, and provides directions for future research.

There is a heavy dependence on cars for people living in rural areas and small towns. The countryside has so far been left out of the transition to carbon-free transport, and public transport shares are low in rural areas. New information and communication technology (ICT) solutions and autonomous vehicles (AVs) have the potential to improve the conditions for public transport in rural areas, as they may increase efficiency and reduce costs. Still, these technological novelties are rarely tested in rural settings and policy focus and pilot tests have occurred almost exclusively in cities. The aim of this chapter is to explore the conditions and challenges for public transport in rural areas through ICT and AVs. The authors will discuss how policy focus needs to change to increase attention to rural areas and give suggestions on concrete policy measures that can be used. In the chapter, the authors draw empirically on results from two research projects in Sweden about the conditions for public transport in rural areas and ongoing tests with new ICT solutions.