scholarly journals Developing Sustainable and Flexible Rural–Urban Connectivity through Complementary Mobility Services

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1280
Author(s):  
Lisa Bauchinger ◽  
Anna Reichenberger ◽  
Bryonny Goodwin-Hawkins ◽  
Jurij Kobal ◽  
Mojca Hrabar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Public Transport ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Transport Systems ◽  
Urban Region ◽  
Main Concern ◽  
Sustainable Mobility ◽  
Financial Barriers ◽  
Depth Analysis

Transport can play a key role in mitigating climate change, through reducing traffic, emissions and dependency on private vehicles. Transport is also crucial to connect remote areas to central or urban areas. Yet, sustainable and flexible transport is among the greatest challenges for rural areas and rural–urban regions. Innovative transport concepts and approaches are urgently needed to foster sustainable and integrated regional development. This article addresses challenges of sustainability, accessibility, and connectivity through examining complementary systems to existing public transport, including demand-responsive transport and multimodal mobility. We draw upon case studies from the Metropolitan Area of Styria, Ljubljana Urban Region and rural Wales (GUSTmobil, REGIOtim, EURBAN, Bicikelj, Bwcabus, Grass Routes). In-depth analysis through a mixed-methods case study design captures the complexity behind these chosen examples, which form a basis for analysing the effects of services on accessibility for different groups, connectivity to public transport and usability as a “first and last mile” feeder. We further explore the weaknesses of complementary transport systems, including legal, organisational and financial barriers, and offer potential solutions to structure and communicate complementary transport systems to improve access and use. Looking ahead, we use the case studies to anticipate innovative, sustainable “mobility as a service” (MaaS) solutions within and between urban and rural areas and consider how future public policy orientations and arrangements can enable positive change. A main concern of our article and the contribution to scientific literature is through exploring the benefit of well-established multi-level governance arrangements when introducing smaller-scale mobility solutions to improve rural–urban accessibility. It becomes clear that not a one-size-fits-all model but placed-based and tailored approaches lead to successful and sustainable concepts.

scholarly journals A GIS-Based Methodology for Evaluating the Increase in Multimodal Transport between Bicycle and Rail Transport Systems. A Case Study in Palermo

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 321
Author(s):  
Alessandro Emilio Capodici ◽  
Gabriele D’Orso ◽  
Marco Migliore
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Public Transport ◽  
Choice Model ◽  
Rail Transport ◽  
Transport Systems ◽  
Sustainable Mobility ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Modal Choice ◽  
Transport Services ◽  
Multimodal Transport

Background: In a world where every municipality is pursuing the goals of more sustainable mobility, bicycles play a fundamental role in getting rid of private cars and travelling by an eco-friendly mode of transport. Additionally, private and shared bikes can be used as a feeder transit system, solving the problem of the first- and last-mile trips. Thanks to GIS (Geographic Information System) software, it is possible to evaluate the effectiveness of such a sustainable means of transport in future users’ modal choice. Methods: Running an accessibility analysis of cycling and rail transport services, the potential mobility demand attracted by these services and the possible multimodality between bicycle and rail transport systems can be assessed. Moreover, thanks to a modal choice model calibrated for high school students, it could be verified if students will be really motivated to adopt this solution for their home-to-school trips. Results: The GIS-based analysis showed that almost half of the active population in the study area might potentially abandon the use of their private car in favour of a bike and its combination with public transport systems; furthermore, the percentage of the students of one high school of Palermo, the Einstein High School, sharply increases from 1.5% up to 10.1%, thanks also to the combination with the rail transport service. Conclusions: The GIS-based methodology shows that multimodal transport can be an effective way to pursue a more sustainable mobility in cities and efficiently connect suburbs with low-frequent public transport services to the main public transport nodes.

scholarly journals Boosting Rural Areas Revitalization in the Mediterranean through Cross-cutting Approach Based on Ecological and Social Resilience

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
C. Echave ◽  
A. Palladus ◽  
M. Boy-Roura ◽  
M. Cacciutolo ◽  
S. Niavis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Green Economy ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Social Resilience ◽  
Sustainable Mobility ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Urban Contexts ◽  
The Mediterranean

Urban areas have been identified as one of the key challenges to tackle in the next decades. Most of the environmental impacts associated to urban contexts are linked to an unsustainable use of resources basically due to urban planning and society’s consumption behaviour. Currently, the paradigm of sustainable cities brought out in the past years situates urban contexts as an opportunity to reduce these impacts. There is a wide range of strategies focused on cities and their transition to a more sustainable urban model: compactness, sustainable mobility, energy efficiency, waste management and greening are some of the most relevant approaches with clear indicators and implementation plans. However, rural areas are still pending for  a precise strategy that highlights their ecological added value avoiding to be defined only as “not urban”. Rural areas should be emphasized from their productivity perspective and their key role in terms of resilience and adaptation to Climate Change. In the framework of the Interreg Med Programme, Thematic Communities are working on the capitalisation of projects from different kind of approaches of application in the Mediterranean Area. Four of these communities - Renewable Energy, Green Growth, Sustainable Tourism and Efficient Buildings - have several projects that present rural areas as one common territory of intervention. The aim of this paper is to expose the standards and goals proposed by the Interreg Med Thematic Communities for Rural Areas Revitalization as a resilience strategy in the Mediterranean Region, using a cross-cutting approach. The cross-cutting approach stresses the relation among the environment, society and economy: rural liveability, increasing RES production with sharing microgrid systems & efficient buildings, as well as green economy based on sectors such as agricultural & tourism activities. These standards and results will provide reference values to shape final policies recommendations. Consequently, the present paper is based on the joint cross-thematic effort and work from four thematic communities of the Interreg MED programme, previously mentioned. It includes some references to existing research studies, but the aim is to open the path to identify new challenges of Mediterranean rural areas and find potential solutions from a holistic approach.

scholarly journals RURAL URBAN MIGRATION AND WOMEN IN URBAN SLUMS OF KARACHI

2017 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-91
Author(s):  
Shagufta Nasreen ◽  
Asma Manzoor
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Development Planning ◽  
Urban Slums ◽  
Urban Migration ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Distribution Of Resources ◽  
Rural Urban Migration ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas ◽  
Questionnaire Method

Poverty creates many problems. Out of which one major problem is an increase in migration rate. In Pakistan, the rate of inter province and rural urban migration has increased in the last few years resulting in an expansion in urban population. The objective of this study was to explore the experience of women who have migrated from rural to urban areas with their families and are living in urban slums. Moreover, the study aims to explore the reasons of migration from rural to urban areas, the change occurred in their living conditions and their level of satisfaction. Total 100 women from selected katchi abadis (urban slums) of Karachi and were in-depth interviewed through questionnaire method. To have an in depth analysis of the situation, both open and closed ended questions were included. Results show that most of these women have migrated with their families due to poverty. The need is to take decisions that promote equity and social justice. The distribution of resources and development planning need to focus on the need of urban and rural areas on equal bases because just moving towards metropolitan city does not change their living rather it is deteriorating the situation.

scholarly journals Quality of Bus Services Performance: Benefits of Real Time Passenger Information Systems

2013 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andres Monzon ◽  
Sara Hernandez ◽  
Rocio Cascajo
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Public Transport ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Travel Behaviour ◽  
Transport Systems ◽  
Sustainable Transport ◽  
The Public ◽  
Steady Growth ◽  
Bus Services

One of the main problems in urban areas is the steady growth in car ownership and traffic levels. Therefore, the challenge of sustainability is focused on a shift of the demand for mobility from cars to collective means of transport. For this purpose, buses are a key element of the public transport systems. In this respect Real Time Passenger Information (RTPI) systems help people change their travel behaviour towards more sustainable transport modes. This paper provides an assessment methodology which evaluates how RTPI systems improve the quality of bus services performance in two European cities, Madrid and Bremerhaven. In the case of Madrid, bus punctuality has increased by 3%. Regarding the travellers perception, Madrid raised its quality of service by 6% while Bremerhaven increased by 13%. On the other hand, the users´ perception of Public Transport (PT) image increased by 14%.

scholarly journals Spatial Paradigms in Road Networks and Their Delimitation of Urban Boundaries Based on KDE

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuying Lin ◽  
Xisheng Hu ◽  
Mingshui Lin ◽  
Rongzu Qiu ◽  
Jinguo Lin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Data ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Road Networks ◽  
Spatial Data Analysis ◽  
Easy Method ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Entire Study ◽  
Depth Analysis

An in-depth analysis of urban road network distribution plays a critical role in understanding the urbanization process. However, effective ways to quantitatively analyze the spatial paradigms of road networks are still lacking, and few studies have utilized road networks to rapidly identify urban areas of a region. Thus, using a fast-developing region in the south-eastern costal region of China, Fuzhou City, as a case, we introduced kernel density estimation (KDE) to characterize road networks and quantified the area’s spatial heterogeneity using exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) and semivariance analysis (SA). The results show that there is an uneven spatial distribution of the networks both at the regional and downtown levels. At the regional level, there is a conspicuous polarization in the road distribution, with the KDE being much higher in the urban areas than in the rural areas; at the downtown level, the KDE gradually decreases from the center to the periphery. Quantitatively, the ranges of the spatial dependence of the networks are approximately 25 km for the entire study region and 12 km for the downtown area. Additionally, the spatial variations vary among different directions, with greater variations in the northeast–southwest and the southeast–northwest directions compared with the other directions, which is in line with the urban sprawl policy of the study area. Both the qualitative and quantitative results show that the distribution of road networks has a clear urban–rural dual structure, which indicates that road networks can be an active tool in identifying the urban areas of a region. To this end, we propose a quick and easy method to delimit urban areas using KDE. The extraction results of KDE are better than those of the index-based built-up index (IBI), indicating the effectivity and feasibility of our proposed method to identify the urban areas in the region. This research sheds new light on urbanization development research.

scholarly journals Methodology to Prioritize Climate Adaptation Measures in Urban Areas. Barcelona and Bristol Case Studies

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 4807 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Guerrero-Hidalga ◽  
Eduardo Martínez-Gomariz ◽  
Barry Evans ◽  
James Webber ◽  
Montserrat Termes-Rifé ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Extreme Rainfall ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Urban Resilience ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Welfare Impacts ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Detailed Assessment

In the current context of fast innovation in the field of urban resilience against extreme weather events, it is becoming more challenging for decision-makers to recognize the most beneficial adaptation measures for their cities. Detailed assessment of multiple measures is resource-consuming and requires specific expertise, which is not always available. To tackle these issues, in the context of the H2020 project RESCCUE (RESilience to cope with Climate Change in Urban arEas), a methodology to effectively prioritize adaptation measures against extreme rainfall-related hazards in urban areas has been developed. It follows a multi-phase structure to progressively narrow down the list of potential measures. It begins using less resource-intensive techniques, to finally focus on the in-depth analysis on a narrower selection of measures. It involves evaluation of risks, costs, and welfare impacts, with strong focus on stakeholders’ participation through the entire process. The methodology is adaptable to different contexts and objectives and has been tested in two case studies across Europe, namely Barcelona and Bristol.

Innovative Mobility Solutions in Rural Areas With Case Studies

2020 ◽  
pp. 156-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marian Gogola ◽  
Dana Sitányiová
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Transport Services ◽  
Innovative Solutions ◽  
Important Challenge

Rural areas still have some disadvantages in comparison to urban areas. Access to jobs, education, or health services provided for inhabitants in rural areas are limited. Another important topic is mobility, which is crucial to meet the travel expectations of inhabitants in rural areas. Finding new forms of mobility capable of covering all areas and meeting the requirements of rural inhabitants is the most important challenge. This chapter deals with mobility in rural areas from the perspective of demographics, social change, and accessibility to transport services. Moreover, this chapter offers various case studies dealing with innovative solutions for mobility in rural areas resulting from the RUMOBIL project.

scholarly journals The Influence of Information Services on Public Transport Behavior of Urban and Rural Residents

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (19) ◽  
pp. 5454
Author(s):  
Xuemei Zhou ◽  
Jiahui Liang ◽  
Xiangfeng Ji ◽  
Caitlin Cottrill
Keyword(s):  
Public Transport ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Information Service ◽  
Rural Residents ◽  
Rural And Urban Areas ◽  
Transport Behavior ◽  
Urban And Rural Residents ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas

Rural and urban areas are mainly connected by public transport in China. The characteristics of the trips of local residents in rural and urban areas are different; therefore, the demand for public transport information services is different. Based on the revealed data, a structural equation model is applied to examine the critical factors affecting the behavior of urban and rural residents in choosing public transport in the Beidaihe District, Qinhuangdao City, China. The effect of information service factors on public transport behavior of urban and rural residents is obtained. The influence level of public transport information service on public transport behavior of urban and rural residents before and during travel is discussed. This study provides valuable insights to improving public transport services between urban and rural areas of China, which can attract more residents to use public transport and promotes sustainable development between urban and rural areas.

scholarly journals Effects of Human Factors on Public Use of Standing-Type Personal Mobility Vehicle

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Naohisa Hashimoto ◽  
Kohji Tomita ◽  
Osamu Matsumoto ◽  
Ali Boyali
Keyword(s):  
Future Development ◽  
Real World ◽  
Public Transport ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Traffic Accidents ◽  
Transport Systems ◽  
Personal Mobility ◽  
Mobility Devices ◽  
Personal Mobility Vehicle ◽  
Mobility Device

To significantly reduce the occurrence of severe traffic accidents, reducing the number of vehicles in urban areas should be considered. Personal mobility is essential for realizing this reduction, which requires consideration of the last-/first-mile problem. The overall objective of our research is to solve this problem using standing-type personal mobility vehicles as transportation devices; however, to evaluate the feasibility of such vehicles as future mobility devices, it is necessary to evaluate their operation under real-world conditions. Therefore, in this study, experimental and survey data relating to the velocity, stability, safety, and comfort of a standing-type personal mobility device are obtained to evaluate its performance in three different scenarios. The results show that the personal mobility vehicle is socially well received and can be safely operated on sidewalks, irrespective of the gender or age of the driver; moreover, the results suggest that subjects who routinely use a bicycle are adept at avoiding and absorbing the impacts of small holes and bumps, thereby yielding reduced acceleration values (in all directions) and pitch, roll, and yaw rates. This is anticipated to benefit the future development of personal mobility devices and help realize effective and accessible public transport systems, as well as reduce the number of vehicles in urban areas.

scholarly journals The Importance of Public Transport for Mobility and Everyday Activities among Rural Residents

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Berg ◽  
Jonas Ihlström
Keyword(s):  
Public Transport ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Contemporary Society ◽  
Everyday Activities ◽  
Transport Services ◽  
Time Space ◽  
Rural Dwellers

A lack of transport opportunities has been shown to be a barrier for accessibility and social inclusion in contemporary society. In rural and sparsely populated areas, access to public transport is often poor compared to urban areas, leading to fewer possibilities to participate in normal relationships and activities among rural dwellers. Based on qualitative interviews with rural dwellers in Sweden, the aim of this study was to explore how access to transport can meet the needs of mobility and activity participation in everyday life and how different modes of transport are being used. The study has been permeated by the time-geographical perspective, which considers people’s use of time and space and the restrictions they face in order to carry out activities, including travel. The results show that travel by private car plays a central role in realizing everyday activities for rural dwellers, as well as a perception of the car as being the norm in contemporary society. Frequent car use is the consequence of a combination of time-space restrictions, habit, and a lack of services, activities, and public transport in rural areas. Poor public transport services limit children’s and adolescents’ independent mobility in particular. Further, the physical environment influences the ability to use public transport, for example if roads and bus stops are seen as unsafe. Based on the results of the study, several measures and improvements are proposed that could increase mobility and accessibility in rural areas and reduce car dependency.

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