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Workshop 5

Role of ICT in FT services provision 

Livorno, Italy6 - 8 October 2010

Presented by:John Nelson, UNIABDN

Session No 1

Title: The role of FT services in PT services provision

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Overview of Presentation• Introduction• Some well established principles about FTS• Factors affecting the relative attractiveness of

FTS• FTS and the “Digital Economy”• Conclusions

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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

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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

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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

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Interchange DRTNetwork DRT

LinkUp Service Area

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Photos supplied by NEXUS

UCall (Optare Alero on average 14 seats)

LinkUp (Optare Solo on average 24 seats)

UCall and LinkUp Vehicles

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Photo supplied by NEXUS

LinkUp Travel Dispatch Centre

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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

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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

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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

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Digital Economy

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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

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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

integratedflexible

transportchallenge

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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).

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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.

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Contact Details

Professor John NelsonCentre for Transport ResearchUniversity of Aberdeen, Scotland

– Tel: +44 1224 272354– j.d.nelson@abdn.ac.uk– www.abdn.ac.uk/ctr – www.dotrural.ac.uk