A multimodal case study was published on Movmi, regarding a list of cities and regions that have implemented strategies for creating multimodal integrated transportation systems. The article provides an up-to-date review of this issue. Here are some key issues.
BUURTHUBS, AMSTERDAM
A BuurtHub is an on-street location that offers users a wide range of transportation modes including shared (e)bikes, shared (e)cargo bikes, shared (e)scooters and/or shared (e)cars. They integrate mobility offerings from various shared mobility providers and are the physical layer of the overall MaaS ecosystem. The locations are picked through a ‘bottom-up’ approach. This means the community participates in the decision making process.
While this ‘bottom-up’ approach takes a lot of effort and time, the hubs become tailored a lot more to the specific needs of each neighborhood.
THE AUTHORS CONCLUDE THAT WHEN IT’S A COMMUNITY-BASED APPROACH, PEOPLE ARE MORE LIKELY TO GET ON BOARD.”
TRANSPORTATION WALLET, PORTLAND
The Transportation Wallet is a collection of passes and credits for use on public transit, streetcar, bikeshare, e scooters, and carshare. The total value of the wallet in 2021 was 800$. People who live or work in the Northwest and Central Eastside Parking Districts are eligible because parking permit surcharge fees are collected in these two districts. A portion of the collected surcharges offset the retail cost of the Transportation Wallet.
The program is most popular amongst employees (28%), FrontLine Workers (24%) and lower income households (23%),
IT FITS IN WITH OUR TRANSPORTATION JUSTICE GOALS, TRYING TO REACH LOW INCOME AND COMMUNITIES OF COLOR THAT HAVE BEEN DISPLACED OR DON’T HAVE THE SAME RESOURCES” – Roshin Kurian | TDM Specialist | PBOT
The study understands that one of the reasons this program works successfully is because it collects data and measures impact. TW users increase their public transit and bikeshare usage and decrease the amount of driving significantly.
SUSTAINABLE URBAN MOBILITY PLAN, FRANCE
In 1982, France introduced the concept of sustainable urban mobility plans (SUMPs). Some plan highlights include:
-Focusing on local mobility plans to reduce individual car use and organize mobility alternatives.
-Working with employers (with <100 employees), in cities (with <100k inhabitants) to develop workplace travel plans that reduces car trips.
-Investments to develop alternative infrastructures i.e. bicycle paths, dedicated lanes for public transport or carpooling, low emission zones, 30km speed zones, parking policies etc.
– Equity measures that include an employers fund, 50% of commuters‘ public transit fares and creating a bike allowance.
The research stresses that there is great interplay between state, local authorities, companies and the technical bodies that help “translate” the regulations into implementation on the ground.
In 2018 there were 133 communities with a SUMP, which translates into 55% of the French population. During the first implementation phase of the workplace travel plans, nearly 1,500 plans had been set, translating to 4 million employees and a drop of 15% in car trips over 3 years. Cities like Lyon or Grenoble were able to increase the modal share of public transport, which was less than 10% 40 years ago, to 20%. Despite big French cities moving the needle most, other smaller urban centers and suburban areas have been able to shift the population away from their cars too.
SHARED MOBILITY COMPASS CARD, VANCOUVER
In 2018 TransLink launched its inaugural Open Innovation Call – a unique way to source new innovative solutions – focused on multimodality. Three different local providers submitted an idea around MaaS and TransLink grouped them together.
Instead of focusing on a purely digital MaaS experience, there was a focus on unifying three aspects of a multimodal user experience: the registration, the access token (the regular fare card was used) and the invoicing of all the employee’s trips at the end of the month. While TransLink was the sponsor, each Mobility Service Provider had a seat at the Strategy and Governance table. Making it a very democratic approach to defining a solution.
As a result of the pilot, over 60% of participants shifted their behavior and started using public transit, carshare or bikeshare instead of their personal vehicle for work related travel. Additionally, more than a third of participants have tried a transportation alternative and over a quarter have started to combine different modes. 6 out of 10 people would like to see some additional digital layer (i.e an app for planning or booking).
OLYMPIC GAMES, VANCOUVER
There is one event every couple of years that can give us clues on how we can handle a population influx without increasing car trips – the Olympic Games.
Moving thousands of athletes, officials, spectators etc. is a major logistical undertaking for any city. In 2019, the Committee released the New Norm document which has laid the groundwork for new sustainable transportation strategies that include:
Leveraging Geography and Existing Infrastructure which means: Locating venue clusters in proximity to existing and planned higher order public transit lines or strategically grouping facilities within venue clusters to allow for interaction between venues and consolidation of transportation resources in one location.
Promoting the Use of Public Transit and Shared Mobility: Offering free public transit and combining transportation services for different Games stakeholders. For Paris 2024 this also means providing less dedicated cars and buses for Games operations.
Controlling Spectator Parking: removing parking for spectators is the single most effective tool to remove car trips.
The authors indicate that one of the most insightful (and entertaining) reviews of how transportation can be shifted is by Uytae Lee’s “How the Olympics Fix Traffic for Two Weeks” where he found that any Game since Barcelona 1992 has reduced traffic anywhere between 15-40%. In the case of Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics close to 200k more people were moved and car trips decreased by one third.
HP TRANSPORTES COLETIVOS, GOIÂNIA
The city of Goiânia has made some real strides towards creating an integrated and resilient transportation system.
Strong public transit: In June 2022, the Chamber of Collective Transport and the State Government announced that they will increase the bus fleet from 86 to 110, part of them electric.
Adding a more flexible DRT options: In 2019 CityBus 2.0 – the first DRT in Latin America – was launched. In 2021, the service was paused only to be relaunched Citybus 3.0 in the fall of 2022.
Simplifying journey planning and ticketing: In April 2022 the Bilhete Unico was introduced which allows passengers to choose the best route to reach their destination and to pay through an app instead of a ticketing office. The Bilhete Unico also allows a passenger to make up to 4 free connections within 150 min from the initial validation across 7,000 bus stops in Goiânia.
Incentivising employers to encourage staff to use public transit through a monthly subscription program of R$ 180 per employee. Employees can take up to eight daily trips, every day of the month, on any bus line of the larger network of the RMTC (including Citybus 3.0).
Evaluating other forms of shared mobility and how they would fit into a multimodal MaaS offering (more to come on that front soon.)
Within a year the DRT service saw more than 80,000 riders. The Bilhete Unico saves riders times and the headache of connection which – hopefully – translates over time into higher ridership. Surveys carried out by RedeMob Consórcio, together with Mova-se Fórum de Mobilidade, indicate that 73% of riders are happy with the services that were implemented as part of the emergency measures. That’s a 30% increase compared to before.