Developing Flexible Mobility On-Demand in the Era of Mobility as a Service: An Overview of the Italian Context Before and After Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic required the implementation of restrictions in the transport sector, changing the movement habits of users and, at the same time, highlighting the importance of creating a flexible transport system aimed at guaranteeing an uninterrupted supply of goods and people in any event. In the last decade, the pace at which sustainable and resilient mobility strategies were developed grew significantly due to the spread of technologies (such as ITS systems) and digital platforms related to Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS). These strategies might improve the overall efficiency of the transport system and reduce dependence on private cars in urban area. Moreover, the development of the demand responsive transport (DRT) is one of the solutions for planning end-to-end travel according to the transport needs. Actually DRT, such as the other shared modes, appears more convenient and capable to turn private car superfluous, reducing traffic congestion and noise and atmospheric pollution levels. After a review of the state of the art in literature, this paper shows the results of a descriptive and a preliminary analysis of DRT services in Italy. In particular, in the studied areas, the authors detected the type of service given and its national displacement, the category of users, the kind of stops, the fleet of vehicles and the presence of shared mobility services. Finally, the authors assessed the possibility to include these services within the Maas platforms suggesting some possible strategies for optimizing the implementation of intelligent mobility systems at Italian national level.