1. WS5, Livorno, 07.10.10 FLIPPER FL exible transport services and I CT P latform for eco-mobility in urban and rural Euro PE an a R eas Workshop 5 Role of ICT in FT services provision Livorno, Italy 6 - 8 October 2010 Presented by: John Nelson, UNIABDN Session No 1 Title: The role of FT services in PT services provision

2. WS5, Livorno, 07.10.10 FLIPPER FL exible transport services and I CT P latform for eco-mobility in urban and rural Euro PE an a R eas Overview of Presentation Introduction Some well established principles about FTS Factors affecting the relative attractiveness of FTS FTS and the “Digital Economy” Conclusions

3. WS5, Livorno, 07.10.10 FLIPPER FL exible transport services and I CT P latform for eco-mobility in urban and rural Euro PE an a R eas The Challenge Many existing DRT services across Europe – Important role to improve social inclusion and accessibility – Still not performing to their true potential – Could not be viable as commercial services Key suggestion from previous research – Need to understand the passenger requirements further

4. WS5, Livorno, 07.10.10 FLIPPER FL exible transport services and I CT P latform for eco-mobility in urban and rural Euro PE an a R eas Flexible Transport Services (FTS) FTS is an “intermediate” form, somewhere between bus and taxi. Four composite case types (INTERMODE - Enoch et al., 2004) Interchange DRT Network DRT Destination-specific DRT Substitute DRT

5. WS5, Livorno, 07.10.10 FLIPPER FL exible transport services and I CT P latform for eco-mobility in urban and rural Euro PE an a R eas UCall and LinkUp Service in Tyne and Wear, UK Extended operation area More flexibility – Semi-fixed route with fixed timing point – Predefined area with fixed timing point More complexity – Managing and dispatching

6. WS5, Livorno, 07.10.10 FLIPPER FL exible transport services and I CT P latform for eco-mobility in urban and rural Euro PE an a R eas Interchange DRT Network DRT LinkUp Service Area

7. WS5, Livorno, 07.10.10 FLIPPER FL exible transport services and I CT P latform for eco-mobility in urban and rural Euro PE an a R eas Photos supplied by NEXUS UCall (Optare Alero on average 14 seats) LinkUp (Optare Solo on average 24 seats) UCall and LinkUp Vehicles

8. WS5, Livorno, 07.10.10 FLIPPER FL exible transport services and I CT P latform for eco-mobility in urban and rural Euro PE an a R eas Photo supplied by NEXUS LinkUp Travel Dispatch Centre

9. WS5, Livorno, 07.10.10 FLIPPER FL exible transport services and I CT P latform for eco-mobility in urban and rural Euro PE an a R eas FTS User Characteristics (Phonphitakchai, 2010) n = 326 Three months could be the critical time to establish user base Provision of door-to-door service is important Users in employment or education are potential customers but have negative attitudes

10. WS5, Livorno, 07.10.10 FLIPPER FL exible transport services and I CT P latform for eco-mobility in urban and rural Euro PE an a R eas FTS User Characteristics (contd) Relative advantage of DRT over buses is important Awareness of the service is critically important Vehicle size and misunderstanding of the operating concept lead to negative attitude

11. WS5, Livorno, 07.10.10 FLIPPER FL exible transport services and I CT P latform for eco-mobility in urban and rural Euro PE an a R eas  Digital Economy  is the novel design or use of information and communication technologies to help transform the lives of individuals, society or business Digital Economy

12. WS5, Livorno, 07.10.10 FLIPPER FL exible transport services and I CT P latform for eco-mobility in urban and rural Euro PE an a R eas Digital Economy

13. WS5, Livorno, 07.10.10 FLIPPER FL exible transport services and I CT P latform for eco-mobility in urban and rural Euro PE an a R eas  To facilitate user-led action on the UK Rural Digital Economy by embedding into rural businesses and communities research activities and initiatives in: Overview of dot.rural digital technologi es accessibility & mobilities healthcare natural resource conservation enterprise & culture

14. WS5, Livorno, 07.10.10 FLIPPER FL exible transport services and I CT P latform for eco-mobility in urban and rural Euro PE an a R eas AIM: provide more customer-focused solutions which maximise the available transport resource and are optimised to meet diverse and customised passenger demands virtual transport marketplace (passenger & freight ) trust management, data sharing & privacy agent-based computation (logistics, decision making ) risk-free, tailored, dynamic travel information behaviour change? information ecosystem informed passenger challenge integrated flexible transport challenge

15. WS5, Livorno, 07.10.10 FLIPPER FL exible transport services and I CT P latform for eco-mobility in urban and rural Euro PE an a R eas A platform for Integrated Flexible Transport Services for Rural Areas  Global objective:  This project is developing a prototype platform to explore the feasibility of a virtual transport market place to more efficiently match existing demand and supply for transport services in rural areas. It is suggested that such an approach will also open up the opportunity for a much wider breadth of transport supply (e.g. shared taxis and liftshare) to become market participants thereby creating potential for much greater accessibility for the whole rural community. The proposed approach uses autonomous intelligent agents to aid passengers and transport providers to make informed decisions in the purchase and sale of goods and services (journeys).

16. WS5, Livorno, 07.10.10 FLIPPER FL exible transport services and I CT P latform for eco-mobility in urban and rural Euro PE an a R eas Conclusions FTS does have a critical role to play in public transport provision Understanding the requirements of users is critical  Digital economy research is user driven  On-going research is exploring the contribution digital technologies can make to -  enhancing key services; generating business opportunities; boosting quality of life; promoting economic, social and environmental sustainability.

17. WS5, Livorno, 07.10.10 FLIPPER FL exible transport services and I CT P latform for eco-mobility in urban and rural Euro PE an a R eas Contact Details Professor John Nelson Centre for Transport Research University of Aberdeen, Scotland – Tel: +44 1224 272354 – j.d.nelson@abdn.ac.uk j.d.nelson@abdn.ac.uk – www.abdn.ac.uk/ctr www.abdn.ac.uk/ctr – www.dotrural.ac.uk www.dotrural.ac.uk