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RuralMobilityMattersInsights from SMARTAThis project is funded bythe European Union

SMARTASustainable Shared Mobility Interconnected withPublic Transport in European Rural Areas (Developingthe Concept of “SMArt Rural Transport Areas”)Rural Mobility Matters: Insights from SMARTAEditing and design:European Integrated ProjectsAuthors:SMARTA consortiumMemEx SRL (lead partner), Vectos GmbH, The UniversityCourt of the University of Aberdeen, Transport & MobilityLeuven NV, and European Integrated ProjectsSMARTA project at:www.ruralsharedmobility.euThe information and views set out in this report are those of the author(s)and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the Commission. TheCommission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in thisstudy. Neither the Commission nor any person acting on the Commission’sbehalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of theinformation contained therein.

Rural Mobility MattersInsights from SMARTASustainable Shared Mobility Interconnectedwith Public Transport in European Rural Areas(Developing the Concept of “SMArt Rural Transport Areas”)This project is funded bythe European Union

THE SMARTA PROJECT IN A NUTSHELLThe SMARTA project has been one of themost interesting initiatives set up by theEuropean Union for rural mobility. Theproject has sought to understand the role,relevance, and potential of demand-responsive and shared mobility services, integrated with public transport, in Europeanrural areas.What is SMARTA about?The SMARTA project has focused on ruralmobility and, in particular, on rural sharedmobility. Rural public transport services inEurope are under stress, due to a combination of factors, including austerity measures, demographic change, and poor connectivity in terms of infrastructure.The absence of diverse mobility serviceshas resulted in rural areas that havebecome highly auto dependent. The inevitable outcome is that those without cars aredependent on others for lifts, often meaning they have reduced possibilities to participate in society. Since its beginning in 2018,the SMARTA project has focused on how toexploit existing mobility policies and solutions in European rural areas and exploreways to support sustainable shared mobility, interconnected with public transport.

SMARTA’S AMBITIONThe project has aimed to give reliable guidance to policy makers, local authorities, andpractitioners to develop suitable policies and efficient operational solutions for rural mobility. This would enable them to:Develop a new vision for rural mobility at national, regional, and local levels;Define specific and measurable targets for rural mobility;Work in a dedicated evaluation framework for rural mobility;Assign dedicated responsibilities and obligations for achievementof the identified rural mobility targets.

SMARTA’S STREAMS OF ACTIVITIESAn analysis of rural mobility at EU levelSMARTA provided the opportunity for a comprehensive analysis of the challenges of mobility in rural areas, including the market and the policy context in all ofthe EU-28 countries (plus selected EEA states, North America, and Australia). Theproject consortium has profiled for each country the framework (institutional,regulatory, organisational, financial, etc.) within which shared mobility services inrural areas sit and related policies (at national or regional level). This sets out afactual mapping of the current situation, which had not been done before.Improving the knowledge on sustainable rural mobilityResearch was done in order to identify current and emerging good practices andtheir level of innovation was appraised. In parallel, SMARTA has engaged with anumber of pilot sites implementing rural shared mobility solutions. Pilot activities provide the opportunity to examine the effectiveness, efficiency, impacts,and future prospects for something new, improved, or extended. The aim was togain a deep understanding about the key findings, lessons learnt, and transferability issues of different mobility solutions.Raising awareness on rural mobilityOne of the key activities of SMARTA consisted of engagement with relevant stakeholders active in the field of rural mobility. Positive links have been developedwith other projects related to rural mobility and accessibility, as well as with relevant initiatives or organisations. The SMARTA stakeholder network was instrumental in ensuring the validation of the project’s activities, for achieving widespread uptake of the SMARTA findings and for raising awareness about the ruralmobility issues. Additionally, a number of dissemination and communicationinstruments have been developed, including leaflets, brochures, a rich website,and very active social media.

SMARTA PROJECT’S STAGESTIME TO RETHINK RURAL MOBILITYIdentifying the rural mobility problem(s)Understanding the existing frameworks and policiesEstablish a network of rural mobility stakeholdersfrom all over EuropeTIME TO ACT FOR RURAL MOBILITYMapping the existing solutions and their innovationcomponentStudying good practice examples and understandingwhat makes them successfulSelecting pilot sites, to monitor and test shared ruralmobility solutionsClosely collaborate with stakeholders from all overEurope in understanding the feasibility of the solutionsRURAL MOBILITY MATTERSStudying the outcome of shared mobility solutionsimplemented in the pilot sitesAssessing the needs of stakeholders in implementingcomprehensive policy that covers all European ruralareasFormulating policy recommendations

01“The European Green Deal is an opportunity to reshapethe entire transport system, to make it safe, sustainable,affordable, and accessible to all. And this means a newvision for rural areas.” 1 Ciaran Cuffe, MEP (TRAN Committee, European Parliament)TIME TORURALMOBILITYThe quote is from Ciaran Cuffe's intervention during the SMARTA Final Conference, December 2020. You can watch the recording of the conference following this link:https://bit.ly/3bZVUEo1

It is important to address the widespread opinion that inrural areas everyone has a car. This is, for sure, not true.Many people cannot drive, by reason of age, condition, oraffordability. When the household car(s) is in use, otherhousehold members do not have access to it. Low-incomehouseholds and individuals may not have a car. In theabsence of good public transport or shared mobilityservices, many people can’t get around. This serious gaplimits their participation in society, their earning potential,and their contribution to the economy. In addition to thehuman cost, many will inevitably leave, putting even morepressure on the remaining facilities in a village or rural area.A NUMBER OFCONSIDERATIONSEMERGED:The rural mobility problem is not one, but many. Differentissues covering transport provision were identified: limitedaccess and connectivity, longer distances, lack of publictransport and/or alternatives to private cars, and lack offinancing for mobility schemes. The specific rural land-usepatterns (urban sprawl, scattered regions, lack of territorialplanning for rural areas) are an important factor that leadsto a high degree of car dependency in rural populationsand, together with the poor infrastructure and lack ofpublic transport provision, lead to limited accessibility andconnectivity. The lack of accessibility translates into a lack of(physical) access to all kinds of services. These services areseen to be much broader than mobility services andencompass public services like postal services, healthservices, but also services like shops, grocery, pharmacy,barber, pubs, and others.The Time to Rethink RuralMobility stage of theSMARTA project aimed atidentifying the specificchallenges of rural mobilityand at understanding theexisting frameworks forrural policies across the EUcountries.

There are real differences across types ofrural areas, regions, Member States. In somelocations, rural areas can be characterisedby the presence of high-income people,while in other rural areas there could be alarge presence of poor households. Mountainous regions are very different fromcoastal areas. For some areas, it is the sheerremoteness itself which is the cause of theproblem. In others, there are topographicalchallenges, a need for conservation, or seasonality issues, e.g. due to tourism. Thisdiversity is making it difficult for one modelto work in all areas.Everybody living in rural areas is impacted,directly or indirectly, by the deficits in ruralmobility. But there are a number of vulnerable categories that are more impacted: theelderly, the disabled, low-income families orthe unemployed, single parents, teenagers,immigrants, newcomers to the area, peoplewho are confronted with a sudden crisis.Deficits in rural mobility inhibit other strategies for rural areas and regions. The mainelements which are inhibited by the lack ofrural mobility are certainly the life and the(economic) development of local society andlocal communities. Strategies in other sectors (e.g. social and health services) oftenignore the need for transport, which canlimit their effectiveness if there is insufficienttransport available. Businesses need to havetransport options available in order toattract potential employees. Too much carmobility for people in the rural area resultsin disappearing services, as car mobilityenables people to use services that are relatively far way.A policy framework for rural mobility, in thesense of a framework that specifically recognises and is designed for mobility in ruralareas, is lacking in most EU-28 MemberStates. In countries or regions where institutional, regulatory, and financial frameworksare well developed, they tend to be moreurban-focussed and prioritise big infrastructure projects and urban projects over ruraltransport.Legislative frameworks often inhibit innovation in rural mobility, whereas they shouldsupport local initiatives and empower localcommunities to make changes and find solutions. For example, the way public transportis regulated in many countries excludesshared solutions or on-demand services.

THE NEED FORA NEW VISIONMapping the existing frameworks and practices across all EU-28 countries resulted in aneed to rethink rural mobility. There is aclear need for a new vision and a newsetting for rural mobility policies in order toimprove rural mobility and to bringlong-term benefits.Ideally, there should be policy frameworkchanges at a high level in order to have a bigimpact and, in order to do this, there is aneed for these changes to be politicallyattractive, since politicians would need to beable to see the benefit for them to getinvolved.Rural mobility should be prioritised toenable initiatives to take place; this wouldgive direction and provide motivation atnational and local levels, with the implementation being handled at a national or sub-national level.KEY MESSAGE:There is a clear need for a new visionand a new setting for rural mobilitypolicies.

Read the first SMARTA brochure for a detailed description of thefindings in the first stage of the project:https://bit.ly/3cR2lIT

02“SMARTA has helped us to strengthen our expertise, or todevelop expertise, as we need it to understand how effectivemobility services could be offered for rural areas. And theproject has demonstrated successful mobility schemes. [.]It has also helped us to get a better view on existing regionaland national policy frameworks.” 2 Isabelle Vandoorne (DGMOVE, European Commission)The quote is from Isabelle Vandoorne's intervention during the SMARTA Final Conference, December 2020. You can watch the recording of the conference following this link:https://bit.ly/38WKWh82