Car-sharing and Car-pooling mobile app

By project REGIO-MOB

Published on 28 September 2022

Greece

Thessalia

About this good practice

In the absence of guiding policies and structured transportation programs to ensure sustainable mobility, citizens from rural areas rely almost entirely on private vehicles to travel to the city center. Several reasons, including traditional behavioral patterns as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, reinforced this phenomenon. The distance between Larisa and Trikala (which are located in the adjacent Region of Thessaly, Greece) is approximately 60 km and a significant number of citizens travel between the two cities daily. Therefore, the cities created a web platform and a mobile application to promote the Good Practices of car-sharing and car-pooling to their inhabitants and citizens residing the near-by communities.
The app provides real-time information and online booking access to existing mobility services operating in Trikala city, such as:
i) real-time information about the expected arrival time of the bus at the stop
ii) smart-lockers for storing luggage, travel equipment, shopping bags etc.
iii) wheelchair scooters for people with special needs
iv) Bicycles and other customizable services.
The users after downloading the app and registering can declare the specific transportation needs and other requirements (e.g., only two passengers in the car, need for luggage storage etc.) and secure a safe transportation to their destination. Moreover, the city of Trikala has secured two electrical cars that can be used in the framework of the car-pooling and car-sharing model.

Resources needed

The proposed Good Practice was part of “SMARTA2, a mobility-related application in the Municipality of Trikala, Greece”. The design and development cost of the complete app was 24.700 Euro in total. The annual maintenance cost is estimated between 2.000-3.000 Euro (VAT included).

Evidence of success

Some key indicators of success include:
• From 0 to 155 ride-sharing trips
• From 0 to 630 (236 for municipal lockers, 371 shared bikes, 23 wheelchair scooters) info-point pre-bookings
• From 0 to 17 carpooling vehicles in the area
• 90% of users stated they are quite or very satisfied with the services
The program’s overall results exhibited new and innovative ways to promote sustainable urban mobility practices across European cities.

Potential for learning or transfer

Via this service the Municipality is introducing to the residents of rural areas the Good Practices of car-pooling and car-sharing as sustainable, alternative mobility solutions to reach the city centre or travel within. The basic aim is to reduce the number of private cars used by the rural population for their daily commutes to and from the city center, as well as eliminate traffic congestion, pollution and provide to non-car owners a set of services and mobility solutions facilitating their trip within the city. Therefore, the Good Practice can be transferred in other cities and areas that exhibit rural and peri-urban characteristics with a strong focus in alternative ways of traveling and moving around the city.