SMARTA 2 project to test effectiveness of mobility solutions in rural areas

The SMARTA 2 – Demonstrators project aims to implement shared mobility services interconnected with public transport in four European rural areas – East Tyrol (AT), Trikala (GR), Águeda (PT) and Brasov (RO) – to address their mobility challenges. The aim is to explore the effectiveness of these solutions and facilitate the adoption of smart mobility solutions in other rural areas across Europe.

All four areas span different geographic features and mobility needs, and are said to require different transportation options:

East Tyrol, Austria, will top up its existing car-sharing system with four new stations and four cars. Car-sharing will be linked to the public transport system through an integrated ticketing and information system and will be offered at advantageous prices for the duration of the project.

The municipality of Trikala, Greece, will develop an online application that will allow citizens to access real-time public transport information along with available carpooling options to facilitate the connection between rural parishes and the city. The application will include an on-demand service to send requests for buses or taxis and a booking system for services, such as storage lockers, wheelchair scooters or bicycles, offered at the city’s main square.

The municipality of Águeda, Portugal, will expand its electric bike-sharing system by installing five e-bike parks and 15 e-bikes to help the connection between rural parishes, train stations and schools. Águeda will also develop a multimodal journey planner as a desktop and mobile app to allow users to book the e-bikes online.

The Brasov Metropolitan Area, Romania, will set up a carpooling platform that will enable users to offer and book shared trips to the public transport terminals at the periphery of Brasov or to other public transport hubs. To help people use the service, Brasov is also allegedly designing an incentive scheme, offered by public and private enterprises.

All interventions will be monitored and assessed as regards to their environmental footprint, cost-efficiency and effectiveness. Based on the data collected, SMARTA 2 will develop a toolkit to support the implementation of shared sustainable mobility solutions across other rural areas in the EU.

SMARTA 2 – Demonstrators complements the ongoing ‘SMARTA’ project, an EU Parliament initiative set to support smart rural mobility across Europe.