FLIPPER Final Conference Almada 21 st October 2011

1. FLIPPER Final Conference Almada 21st October 2011 Title: The role of FLPPER in FTS development Presented by: Prof John Nelson, University of Aberdeen, Scotland

2. Overview of Presentation • Characteristics of FTS • An introduction to FLIPPER • Cross-site Evaluation • Contribution to Good Practice: A business model for sustainable FTS • Implications for FTS

3. What are Flexible Transport Services? “services provided for passengers (and freight) that are flexible in terms of route, vehicle allocation, vehicle operator, type of payment and/or passenger category”

4. Components of a Flexible Transport Service User Groups • Goals • Constraints • Limitations Sophisticated, comfortable and cost effective transport options “Agents” Service Providers • Resources • Schedules • Fares

5. The FLIPPER Project MAIN OBJECTIVES: • Investigation, experience exchange, transfer of good practices and profitable co-operation on FTS in relation to mobility in cities, rural areas and small towns • Exploitation of real results, experiences and good practices gained • SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES • Creation of a Knowledge Transfer Network among different EU areas and Authorities in the domain of FTS • Understanding of the passengers´ point of view and learning about the socio- economic effects of FTS in the served areas • Knowledge raising through analytical studies of local needs and possible solutions in order to identify the most appropriate ICT tools and solutions and their optimal roll-out and operation • Elaboration of guidelines for an effective European policy for collective transport services for cities and rural areas • Promotion at local, regional and European level of the concept, approach and results of FTS as a “real” component of the overall area/region transport chain

6. FLIPPER Consortium - 7 EU Countries - 9 EU Regions • 11 partners: • Studio Reti e Mobilità (SRM, IT) LEADER • ATL (IT) • ATAF (IT) • University of Thessaloniki (AUTH, GR) • University of Vienna (BOKU, AT) • Municipality of Purbach (AT) • University of Aberdeen (UK) • DOYK - Municipal Organization for Health and Social Affairs - Volos Municipality(GR) • Consell Insular de Formentera(ES) • Municipality of Almada (PT) • Ring a Link, not-for- profit organisation (RAL, IE)

8. Decision support for Service Design and Evaluation FLIPPER adopted a structured framework for the design and implementation of flexible transport services (Brake, Nelson and Wright, 2010). This more formalised approach can act as a decision support tool for the feasibility studies, providing guidance on the sequence in which aspects of design should be considered details on what should be considered at each stage in the sequence A template is used to record details on certain decisions and choices that are made at the different stages in FTS design Use of the framework provides a strong and consistent basis for identifying and explaining variations between designs and assists subsequent evaluation.

9. We need better transport in Almada for health service transport in Area A to users and people with disabilities. meet our accessibility planning strategy Fixed routes can’t reach our priority groups targets. Fixed routes Design a DRT service that can! cant reach our priority How do I design the service? How do I design the service? What equipment do the What equipment do the What locations should be What locations should be vehicles need ? What cost ? vehicles need ? What cost ? served at what times ? served at what times ? How much budget do I have ? How much budget do I have ? What is potential What is potential Who are the targeted / Who are the targeted / fare box revenue? fare box revenue? likely users ? likely users ? What do different What do different What transport services are What transport services are users need / want ? users need / want ? already provided ? already provided ? What legislation applies ? What legislation applies ? DESTINO How do I buy vehicles ? How do I buy vehicles ? How much do they cost ? How much do they cost ? Method Do I need software to help with Do I need software to help with bookings and scheduling ? bookings and scheduling ? What type of operator What type of operator contract is suitable ? contract is suitable ? Which one ? Which one ? What should I expect What should I expect How much cost ? How much cost ? this to cost ? this to cost ? Will communication Will communication Can I coordinate with existing Can I coordinate with existing with vehicles work ? with vehicles work ? services ? How ? services ? How ? Who is best provider? Who is best provider? How many How many What vehicle design ? What vehicle design ? potential users ? potential users ? How many vehicles ? How many vehicles ? Do we need our own Do we need our own dispatch centre ? dispatch centre ? How else can we take How else can we take How do I establish How do I establish bookings ? bookings ? partnerships ? partnerships ? What does all this cost ? What does all this cost ? What is the area like ? What is the area like ? Is it remote, hilly, with Is it remote, hilly, with Who else is involved in Who else is involved in narrow roads? narrow roads? helping access key services ? helping access key services ? Approximately how Approximately how How else can we get How else can we get much does all this cost much does all this cost money to pay for it ? money to pay for it ? What operator to choose ? What operator to choose ? and can we afford it ???? and can we afford it ????

10. Cross-site Evaluation • In FLIPPER D8 key indicators which define service performance for FTS have been identified as: • Subsidy per passenger trip (€) • Subsidy per vehicle hour (€) • Subsidy per veh-km (€) • Subsidy per pass-km (€) • Ratio of fare revenue to operating cost • Passenger trips per vehicle hour • kg CO2 per passenger km

11. Plot of subsidy per passenger trip against target population density at pilot sites

12. Pilot user surveys • All seven pilot site partners conducted a short user survey to elicit the changes in mobility and travel patterns which the FTS has enabled as well as establishing the satisfaction of the service with users. • The questionnaire, which is based on previous materials developed for the evaluation of FTS, contains the minimum necessary questions to enable cross-site comparison on satisfaction and impacts on mobility and travel patterns amongst users. • The questionnaire was kept as short as possible to enable surveys to be conducted while passengers were on the bus/vehicle as well as via telephone.

13. Comparison of public transport access times before and after FLIPPER services

14. Overall satisfaction with FTS at pilot sites from user surveys

15. Likelihood of travelling by PT more or less if FTS was available

16. Service design based on economic performance criteria

17. Summary of Key findings • The FLIPPER cross-site analysis provides decision makers with evidence-based service guidance for different environments derived from analysis of economic performance of the FLIPPER pilot site applications. • It is hoped that this will prove to be a valuable aid in helping decide on the most suitable and cost effective FTS solutions in both urban and rural environments across Europe.

18. Contribution to Good Practice • FLIPPER D9 proposes eight central facets of FTS service development which can be reasonably expected to contribute to more sustainable service delivery: • Reduce cost of operation • Increase revenues • Applications of technologies • Integration • Promotion and publicity • Training • User Needs • Monitoring and evaluation

20. Good Practice examples from FLIPPER • Each facet of FTS service development is illustrated with a good practice example from the FLIPPER project explaining how the good practice was implemented in FLIPPER

21. Summary of Good Practice • It is hoped that the best practices highlighted in D9 will provide sites throughout Europe with inspiration that their mobility issues can be improved by learning from the experiences gained by FLIPPER partners. • The success of EU projects such as FLIPPER ultimately lie in their ability to bring organizations from different countries together and breakdown barriers in the successful transfer of knowledge and experience

22. Summary of Good Practice • The FLIPPER project has demonstrated that FTS should not be limited to bus services. The use of Taxis, Community Transport and Local Authority Services can also provide integrated mobility solutions. • In this project some sites have introduced fully flexible door to door services, while at other sites semi-fixed routes operating to fixed timetables have successfully been introduced to meet local demands. • Sites have recognised the importance of developing FTS within the overall PT network, e.g. where FTS can act as feeder services to main line PT services and provide an integrated solution. • Experience demonstrates the important role of technologies while recognizing that they need to be introduced within a coherent economic framework. • Marketing of FTS has been shown to be essential in promoting what can still be a misunderstood concept. Branding has been successfully used by FLIPPER partners.

23. Implications for FTS FTS are an integral component of the public transport offer and there are a number of distinct markets for FTS Long-term planning is essential A structured approach towards planning and evaluation of new services is required Good practice should be captured!

24. Key Resources Published March 2004. Available from: http://old.enea.it/com/ingl/New_ingl/publications/demand_transport.html Published October 2010 Available from: http://old.enea.it/com/ingl/New_ingl/publications/V2010-Infomobility.html DRT Good Practice Guide (2006) Available from: http://www.ceg.ncl.ac.uk/info/pdf/goodpracticeguide.pdf

25. Contact details @ UNIABDN THANKYOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION • Prof John Nelson, Director,Centre for Transport Research • Tel: +44 1224 272354 • j.d.nelson@abdn.ac.uk • Dr Steve Wright, Research Fellow, CTR • s.d.wright@abdn.ac.uk • www.abdn.ac.uk/ctrwww.interreg4cflipper.eu