Bridging the mobility gap: The role of ITS

This paper explores how Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can be used to promote mobility management over the next 25 years using the North West European region as a case study. The detailed objective is to gain a better understanding of how ITS/ICT can contribute to improve the (so-called) ‘first and last miles’ of local journeys thus reducing the “mobility gap”. A questionnaire was used to capture four objectives; current experience of ITS/ICT procurement/deployment/evaluation; future technology requirements; consideration of a variety of future technology scenarios; and anticipated challenges in achieving the future requirements. The respondents are local authorities, public transport operators and transport consultancies from 7 countries. The analysis shows that Public Transport (Management) and Environment are the stated top priority policy themes expected to play a role in improving mobility gaps. It is clear that the trends of first and last mile solutions in different regions may differ to meet local needs and it is concluded that given the need to address social exclusion and the trend of an ageing population, that Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) has particular potential.