Rural Transport Solutions Best Practice

BEST PRACTICE Västernorrland & Ånge

Formation of regional transport companies –Synchronisation of fares –Bonus systems –Time tables Synchronisation of special transportation systems –Facilitates most clients’ needs of transportation –Active coordination between two different modes of transport Västernorrland & Ånge

Dispatch Centre – Din Tur –Din Tur is owned by the seven different municipalities and the county council of Västernorrland –Coordinates all forms of special public transportations on the behalf of the county council and the municipalities –Hospitals and paratransit travellers can now share the same vehicles – saving substantial sums of money every year

Västernorrland & Ånge The Dispatch Centre in Ånge –The regional dispatch centre is situated in Ånge and organizes all forms of special public transportation such as; hospital-, school- and paratransit transports in the county – By organizing all forms of special public transportation the dispatch centre is able to sychronise and incorporate more forms of transportation, subsuquently saving money for its owners and users

BEST PRACTICE North Karelia

The North Karelian Transport Combination Centre –Objective: “To provide personal door-to-door services to inhabitants who need them and to rationalise the use of public resources by combining transportation services in order to attain a tax utilisation as high as possible” –Based on customer calls and combining –Request transport service between 6:40 am and 5 pm and calls directed to a taxi on duty on evenings and weekends –Personal assistant, optional

North Karelia Regional Tickets –Three different regional tickets in North Karelia North Karelia ticket: Covers almost the entire region -> most expensive Joensuu tickets: trips within the area Central Karelia tickets: trips within the area –Tickets priced so they are cheaper on annual bases than the use of private car –Subsidised in 2009 about 45-48% –Can be used on all scheduled services apart from express services –Demand after regional tickets has been increasing

BEST PRACTICE Pielinen Karelia & Juuka

Demand Responsive System: Kimppakyyti –Partly based on demand (minibus 1+8) –Door to door service with personal assistance when necessary –Service runs 2-7 times a week in rural areas but between 7:30 am and 4:30 pm in more populated areas –Routes are planned with special attention to onward connections –Vehicles are chosen with the needs of customers in mind Lieksa - Kimppakyyti

Development phase of Kimppakyyti: –Clear definition of desired service level objectives who where set high enough –Customer orientation and communal benefits where considered in the projects objectives and principles –A variety of interest groups participated in the development project –The development project included a test phase – room for improvement –The idea was to combine several different transport needs – promote cost effectiveness Lieksa - Kimppakyyti

Development phase of Kimppakyyti: –Accessible for all users –The service was marketed actively from the very beginning of the project Goals and Reality –To reduce the cost of transport services for disabled by 10% - was reduced by 40% compared by previous years, although more trips where used and the system was only used for a part of the year Lieksa is the only municipality in the area where the total cost of transport services decreased btw 2005 and 2007

Nurmes - Kyytipoika Demand Responsive System: Kyytipoika –Main difference from Kimppakyyti is the development phase – operational objectives not identified as thorougly as those of Kimppakyyti –Not updated regularly as Kimppakyyti –Kyytipoika available in each area three times a week –Route planned by drivers according to orders and convinence –Accessible, uniform prices, simple ordering system, little administrative bureaucracy, good local knowledge of the service providers

BEST PRACTICE Dumfries and Galloway

Software booking and scheduling system –Reduces administration time/cost –Allows for regular and one off bookings to be scheduled and tracked easily –Calculates estimated time required for different journeys –List special requirements for trips (wheelchairs etc.) –Mapping system within that calculates best route for optimisation of fuel consumption and journey time –Plans pick up times Wigtownshire Community Transport (WCT)

Software booking and scheduling system –Has kept the hire cost of trips the same for the last two years –Cost to users has only risen in relation to increasing fuel costs Wigtownshire Community Transport (WCT)

An umbrella organisation: consortium of operators from Harrogate, Ryedale and Craven in partnership with North Yorkshire County Council Little Red Bus network

Provides an optimised scheduling system through which all journeys can be booked Maintains a live database of community transport vehicle availability Provides specialist support and expertise in all technical areas including Transport Operation and HR management; Facilitates the more effective planning of strategic community transport services and the development of standard flexible runs to meet local demand; Provides an online booking facility; Provides centralised reporting of journeys delivered across the county by individual community transport operators, by district and in total. Little Red Bus network

SWestrans have utilised capital money to purchase vehicles which are leased to successful bus companies to provide a specific service. This reduces the revenue consequences of a five year tender price by a considerable amount, potentially relieving budget pressures. Swestrans – Spend to Save

BEST PRACTICE Shetland Islands

Demand Responsive Transport services using: –State of the art vehicles, constructed to be multi-purpose and fully accessible –Booking/Scheduling Software in a contact centre –Mobile Data Terminals –GPS Vehicle Tracking –The systems has saved up to 26% of total cost of social work transport Strathclyde Transport Partnership

BEST PRACTICE Fjarðabyggð, East-Iceland

Fjarðabyggð From the municipality: –Caters to the needs of the people From the Icelandic Road Administration –Timetables synchronised with the domestic flights Alcoa Smelter –Synchronises with work shifts –Privately run but open to public