Sustainable rural mobility
In the spotlight
Sustainable rural mobility is vital for enhancing accessibility, driving economic development, and fostering social equity while promoting environmental sustainability. Improving transportation options helps reduce isolation and connects rural areas to urban centers, boosting local economies. Our experts have hand-picked the most relevant content for you so you can dive right in and learn how innovative mobility solutions can support long-term sustainability goals.
Supporting mobility in rural regions
Public transport is a lifeline for many rural communities, particularly for the elderly, young people, tourists and those who are economically marginalised.
Low population density in rural regions results in fewer economic and social opportunities, which are instead found in urban areas, making transport an essential service. However, the low population density of rural areas presents significant challenges for the economic sustainability of convenient public transport provision.
Rural regions now face an even tougher reality in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, with fewer people willing and able to travel by public transport due to business closures and enforced social distancing. Falling user numbers are further straining the economic sustainability of public transport systems.
However, local and regional public authorities must still provide public transport options to ensure inclusivity of vulnerable groups, as well as reducing carbon emissions by reducing private motor vehicle use. As such public transport systems need to be adapted to become more customer friendly and cost effective.
A number of Interreg Europe projects have explored the issue of sustainable rural transport and can provide inspiring good practices for public authorities to model their efforts on.
Route changes
A fundamental starting point is to take account of the current situation and see how it can be optimised. Saale-Holzland-County (Germany) is a region with many rural settlements with small populations. In order to ensure adequate provision of transport, the public transport network which had grown sporadically with no centralised planning, was re-organised with the principle that, 'Every citizen should have a minimum range of mobility options available by public transport, irrespective of the availability of an individual car'. With this public commitment, the region ensured that all villages would have at least one connection to a nearby city that could act as a transport hub. The reorganisation resulted in both increased use of public transport and a reduced requirement for public subsidies.
On-demand bus services
On-demand public transport options are becoming more and more popular for tackling the issues of rural transport where fixed systems are costly. On-demand services can run only when needed, running either a set route with drop off and pick up points determined by demand, or with more flexible routes that can go door-to-door.
One such example of the latter, demonstrating significant flexibility, is the EcoBus pilot project, in the County of Northeim in Saxony, Germany. The EcoBus operated in the rural area of Bad Gandersheim, combining different routes with similar start and end points. The on-demand service could be booked via app, phone or website, providing accessible booking for people of differing technological aptitude and means. Though some economic challenges remain related to scale and cost, with the phone reservation system being a particular cost burden, requiring, as it does, human resources and not only a computerised system, the pilot project was well received and well used and further roll-out is intended.
A more proven system can be found in the Local Link Rural Transport Programme in Waterford, Ireland, which consists of fifteen public transport companies, operated by the local community, that responds to the community’s needs. Specifically, it links villages and towns with existing transport nodes and local attractions, making connections to a wider transport networks easy. The Local Link programme is a brand under the Irish National Transport Authority, which funds the local networks (the remainder of the financing is raised from passenger fares). The service provides a combination of scheduled and flexible services, providing home-to-hub services, with bookings made by phone or email.
Vehicles sharing
For a fully on-demand service, the FLUGS e-carsharing programme in East Tirol, Austria, is targeted at rural areas, to tempt people away from their own polluting vehicles with a publicly accessible low-carbon mobility option. Whilst car-rental is traditionally not regarded as public transport, if used intelligently, it can provide a sustainable mobility option for rural areas. In East Tirol, eleven e-cars have been made available for rental by residents, specifically to supplement the public transport network with reservations made online or by phone. Further, efforts are being made to integrate the system into the existing public transport network information system.
Analysis of user needs
In dealing with limited resources, public transport providers can also choose to focus on specific target groups and needs in order to maximise the impact of their investments. In Madeira, a new service has been established for connecting the port of Funchal with the city centre specifically focused on those with reduced mobility. The investment came about as the city noticed that the existing network did not take account of the needs of the city’s elderly residents and tourists. The new service is comprised of mini buses with space for nine wheelchairs and rear-mounted electric lift to enable accessibility, operating on demand.
This article has drawn together practices from several Interreg Europe projects. For more information, visit the DESTI-SMART, LAST MILE, MATCH-UP, and OptiTrans websites. For more examples of on demand public transport, see the Policy Learning Platform’s Policy Brief on
Image credit: Photo by Jakob Scholz from Pexels
Mobility as a service for low-density areas: key learnings
On 17-18 October 2023, the Policy Learning Platform held an onsite peer review in Portugal for the Commission for Coordination and Development of the Alentejo Region (CCDRA), which requested advice regarding their policy challenge on Mobility as a Service (MaaS) for very low-density areas.
The CCDRA sought to address the policy challenges of providing better mobility services for its citizens, specifically in the low-density areas of the region, and was interested in examining the following questions:
Wide-area SUMPs
On 1 June 2023, the Policy Learning Platform organised a matchmaking at the request of Livorno Province, Italy, to explore wide-area Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs).
The Province wants to develop a SUMP that covers an area wider than the province’s own 19 municipalities, also bringing in neighbouring municipalities from Pisa (seven municipalities) and Grosseto (three municipalities). While Livorno city has a SUMP, as do other municipalities, they are not integrated at a wider territorial level.
The municipalities of this area cover a wide variety of territorial types (such as cities, villages, rural areas, coastal areas, and islands) and contain different types of users, including students, tourists, and elderly people.
Livorno foresees the use of different approaches, with different modes and business models including high-frequency Local Public Transport Services, services for vulnerable groups, transport services for tourists, and Mobility as a Service (MaaS).
MATCH-UP: Exploring the 10-Minute Town Framework
A largely rural and geographically fragmented area, the southern region of Ireland is highly reliant on private cars for transport, with emissions rising year on year.
“Transport emissions account for 20% of Ireland’s emissions and increased by 136% between 1990 and 2019 compared to an EU average of 20%,” explained Rose Power, EU Projects Officer at Ireland’s Southern Regional Assembly (SRA) – or, Tionól Réigiúnach an Deiscirt. “The population of the Southern Region is predicted to grow by 23% by 2040 so we need new and innovative solutions if we are to achieve our target to reduce Ireland’s emissions by 51% by 2030”
The SRA, comprised of three strategic planning areas and ten local authorities, is responsible for supporting coordination and cooperation between local authorities and forging links with the national and European levels. In addition, SRA is the Managing Authority for the Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme (SER-OP) 2014-2020 and has responsibility for the implementation of the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy (RSES) for the Southern Region.
In response to rising emissions, the SRA noted a need for gateways and hubs, to increase the use of public and active transport and reduce the number of private car journeys take. Specifically, the SRA considered expanding the networks of cycle and bus lanes, improving information provision, and further developing walking and cycling access to public transport. It would achieve these goals by making use of resources from the SER-OP 2014-2020 and creating an implementation tool for the RSES.
Key lessons for Southern Ireland
By participating in the MATCH-UP project, the SRA was seeking to find inspiration and solutions that had worked in other regions and transfer them to their own communities. The project, comprised of five partners from Ireland, Italy, Germany, Portugal and Romania, has explored low-carbon strategies in different types of territory, looking in particular at multimodal urban mobility. Partners exchanged experiences and good practices and engaged with their regional stakeholders to find solutions that could work in their regional context.
The SRA took particular interest in four good practices from Funchal, Madeira (Portugal) and the County of Northeim (Germany)
- Intelligent Crossroads (Funchal), using an ICT system and LEDs along a pedestrian crossing for road safety, powered by renewable energy;
- Boosting Multi-Modality (Funchal), in which several measures have been implemented to improve the pedestrian network and create pedestrian zones;
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(Northeim), a rail connection closed since 1984, re-opened a reinforced with regional bus services;Document
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(Northeim), an on-demand bus service for those of limited mobility.Document
“In particular, we were inspired by the revitalisation of the Ilimebahn, with partners from Northeim providing us with details of the comparative analysis and viability assessment framework for this good practice, which placed a significant emphasis on linking transport and spatial planning,” said Power.
As a result of these exchanges, the SRA produced an Action Plan to implement lessons learned into both the SER-OP and the RSES, including an action to create a new implementation tool for the RSES – the 10 Minute City & Town.
10 Minute City & Town
Under the RSES, the SRA Project Officer for the Interreg Europe MATCH-UP Project, the SRA Regional Planning Team and the transport consultants Arup have developed a framework and methodology for implementing the '10 Minute Town' concept, seeking to ensure all daily necessities, community facilities and services are provided within a 10-minute walk or cycle, or are accessible from rural settlements by high-quality public transport services.
The methodology involves four main steps:
- Data collection and validation, identifying street networks and community facilities (such as healthcare, education, retail, and leisure);
- Wider public transport connectivity analysis, determining where pedestrians and cyclists can travel through the street network, and establishing 5-10 minute catchment areas for main facilities
- Understanding baseline conditions, including constraints (lack of connectivity and poor active transport infrastructure), demographics and travel patterns;
- Identifying opportunities, considering new routes and connections.
The results of the methodology can be used, therefore, to plan new actions which can increase accessibility to essential services.
Implementation in key towns
The methodology was pilot tested in three key towns in the Southern Region – Carlow, Tralee and Ennis – to ensure it was robust as it was to be used to integrate the concept into Local Development Plans for all 14 of the region’s key towns. This implementation tool was approved by the Elected Members of the Assembly in September 2020 and by the SER-OP Monitoring Committee in April 2021. To support integration, the Southern Regional Assembly will be holding an event on 31st January 2022 for all local authorities and transport stakeholders in the region. Following this event, the SRA will establish three smaller working groups to help Local Authorities to embed the practice into their Local Development Plans and Local Transport Plans.
“It was originally envisaged that this implementation tool would only be used for our 14 key towns but now the plan is that it will also be implemented by the 3 cities in the Southern Region,” explained Power. “The 10 Minute City & Towns implementation tool will assist compact growth, reduce air pollution, emissions, and traffic congestion. It embeds sustainable mobility strategies into our policy instruments while encouraging a more active lifestyle, improving placemaking and quality of life for all citizens.”
Further impact is expected nationwide, as the national Department of Transport is interested in rolling this event out to all regions of Ireland, and SRA has been asked to produce a section for inclusion in the National Sustainable Mobility Policy for Ireland.
For more information, see the Publication: 10 Minute Towns: Accessibility & Framework Report, or view the Presentation: 10 Minute Towns Model.
Image credit: twenty20photos by EnvatoElements
Improving the convenience of public transport
The shift to a low-carbon economy will rely heavily on the use of zero-emission vehicles and increased use of public transport. Whilst cities and regions will need to invest heavily in new vehicles, fleets, and infrastructure, there is also a need to encourage citizen behaviour change.
One of the major barriers to the use of public transport involves shifting citizen preference from individual modes of transport, by overcoming perceptions that public transport can be slow, uncomfortable, or unreliable.
Improving the convenience of public transport can help to change these beliefs and also to change behaviours, through interventions such as the provision of accurate information and timetables, having easy route planning options, supporting multi-modal connectivity, using integrated smart ticketing options, operating on-demand services, and improving customer comfort.
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Rural areas often struggle to provide cost-efficient mobility options that are also inclusive and sustainable. However, solutions are emerging that apply new technologies and business models, in particular for on-demand and shared mobility systems.