Search results

This chapter presents a novel visualisation tool, known as Flexible Integrated Transport Services (FITS) that transport commissioners, providers and administrators could employ to specify and edit the operating constraints as they redesign transport services.

The context of rural transport planning is discussed noting that where resources are fewer, effective co-ordination is required to provide passengers with efficient transport services. An overview of the FITS visualisation tool and its different sub-systems (e.g. general information regarding services, operating area, passenger eligibility, fare structure and surcharge structure) is given. Additionally, some key computational details of the system are discussed. Preliminary results of a sample case study that trialled the FITS tool in a specific test run, using simulated transport to health data in the Morayshire and North-West Aberdeenshire area of Scotland are presented. The concluding discussion considers the potential impact of employing tools like FITS in planning transport services in rural and low-demand settings.

Results from the case study show how these effects could be quantified in terms of changes in costs incurred by transport providers, the level of potential demand that could be covered and the associated revenues (fares and subsidies) which could be generated by providers.

The FITS visualisation tool has the potential to act as a planning tool to help transport commissioners, providers and administrators visualise the effects of shifting operating boundaries of flexible transport services.

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.

This chapter presents a review of community transport in Australia with the aim of providing material for comparative research in flexible transport.

Research on Australian community transport has been brought together to present an analysis of the key features of the industry: history; geography; funding; regulation and the use of volunteers.

Each key feature has led to the current strong state/territory basis for service organisation and delivery, despite the federal responsibility for supplying most of the funding and ensuring equity and standards. Varying approaches to regulation and supply have also been driven by remoteness and the prevalence of large pockets of entrenched social disadvantage in some regions.

The chapter summarises research findings including hitherto unpublished research on an application of flexible transport services outside mainstream public transport operations in Australia.

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.

The purpose of this study is to explore the interactions between commuters with disabilities and transport services providers and to contribute to a better understanding of transformative service design, ensuring equitable access and the overall well-being of individuals.

This study collected qualitative data through ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with commuters with disabilities and transport services providers. The data were thematically analysed using NVivo.

Evidence suggests that there are opportunities for service users to be included in the co-creation of transformative transport service at different stages of a journey: entering service interaction, transitioning through service interaction and exiting service interaction. However, the reluctance of service providers to transform their services was recognised, due to a lack of awareness, interest, regulator demands and financial capabilities.

This study broadens the comprehension of procedures and strategies for engaging consumers experiencing vulnerabilities in transformative service design and pushes the limits of the current understanding to recognise the inherent challenges of unregulated service providers designing transformative services in an unregulated market.

This newfound knowledge is crucial for developing better approaches that cater to the needs of these individuals and further contributes towards developing transformative service initiatives, which are activities that serve people experiencing vulnerabilities and that try to improve their well-being. These include specialised training and social marketing campaigns for service providers in the informal market and new mobility start-ups or social enterprises with the potential to disrupt the informal economy and offer innovative solutions, such as assistive technologies, mobile apps and journey planners that provide exceptional customer service.

Previous studies on transformative service designs have focused on regulated service providers, such as health care and financial services. This study, however, explores the unregulated transport sector in a developing country and recognises how the intricate nature of informal service provision may jeopardise the prospects of developing a transformative service for consumers experiencing vulnerabilities.

Freight forwarders are intermediary companies involved in Logistics. Their task is to manage all functions involved in transport after the buy process of merchandise is complete. The main objectives of the present work are to evaluate the criteria on which production companies choose particular freight forwarders, to point out the elements that affect quality and to differentiate services provided in various customer categories. In addition, this work presents the characteristics of freight forwarding companies that are active in the Greek market, analyzing their field of specialisation regarding various services and the profile of their manpower, as well as measuring the level of information technology usage in their operations. For the aim of this work, a questionnaire was drawn up and sent to a sample of 98 companies of the sector, selected mainly for their size and their location. Twenty‐four questionnaires were returned, covering roughly 10% of the companies in the market. The companies were asked to evaluate the various choice criteria regarding the carriers they chose to collaborate with and the criteria on which they are selected by their customers. The conclusion is that Greek freight forwarding companies consider that quality is more important for their customers than cost and that small companies seem to evaluate the price of services offered, the offering of special privileges, personal treatment and experience as relatively more important than big companies do.

This chapter introduces the concept of the Shared Mobility Services Agency for the planning and managing of collective transport services at urban and regional level.

Building on previous work which established the concept of the Flexible Transport Service (FTS) Agency as a single co-ordination centre for different flexible services, this chapter extends the concept to consolidate the role of the Agency as a Shared Mobility Centre, including the integration of different on-demand or New Mobility Services and the co-ordination of different key actors in a co-modal approach. Specific attention is given to the enabling information and communication technology (ICT) architecture and standards and to the actions needed for consolidating the Agency’s role.

Findings indicate the fundamental role of the Public Transport Authority (local or regional) to enable the implementation of the concept. Priorities include: recognizing the Agency as an added value service for the area; supporting possible interaction/synergy among different Dispatch Centres and/or with other paratransit services; and defining a specific set of indicators measuring the quality and quantitative of service that are different from those of the conventional transport service.

In a time when household and public expenditure are under pressure, coupled with rapid technology progress (especially enhanced connectivity) the shared mobility services Agency offers a co-ordinated solution to planning and managing collective transport services, including New Mobility Services (represented by recent solutions like Uber, Sidecar, Lyft and BlaBlaCar) which are not yet integrated with traditional transport services.