Sustainable Shared Mobility Interconnected with Public Transport in European Rural Areas

Just over one quarter of the EU-28 population lives in rural areas, possibly reflecting a trend towards leaving inner city areas in search of more (affordable, qualitative, open, peaceful) space, in suburbia, towns, or the countryside. Despite the positive connotations associated with rural dwelling, rural areas present conditions that require further support towards the adoption of smart integrated mobility solutions. The lower population density makes running public transport at high frequency inefficient, expensive, limited and not meeting the local demand. This, in turn, provokes an increase in the share of private cars ownership among rural inhabitants, which has negative environmental and socioeconomic impacts. Addressing these challenges, the EU-funded project “SMARTA 2-Sustainable Shared Mobility Interconnected with Public Transport in European Rural Areas” sets to deploy, implement and evaluate four demonstration sites in East Tyrol (AT), Trikala (GR), Águeda (PT) and Brasov (RO) involving sustainable, shared and integrated rural mobility solutions interconnected with public transport and supported by multimodal travel information services.