One of the six Europe-wide pilot actions of the Territorial Agenda 2030 addresses perspectives for lagging regions. A key topic of this partnership in 2022 was mobility. A new publication presents practical examples from the participating regions in Europe.
Lech am Arlberg, Region of Vorarlberg AT © Creative Commons
Due to dispersed settlement structures and lower population density, the demand situation for local public transport is often low and it is difficult for the regions to provide an economically viable and needs-oriented public mobility service.
In order to ensure sustainable mobility in rural areas in future, mobility actors need to provide flexible types of services and solutions adapted to the regional needs. Partner regions are currently testing various approaches. Prioritising mobility rather than transport needs to be the guiding principle. New “unusual” alliances and strong local cooperation are essential to deal with these tasks.
The publication “Main conclusions 4th Partner Meeting on Mobility Solutions for Lagging Regions” presents practical examples from the regions involved in Europe and comes to the following conclusions:
- Mobility planning needs to be based on people’s actual social needs
- Successful mobility services are demand-driven and digital
- Mobility planning and settlement development need to be tackled together
- Breaking up existing structures and promoting cooperation serves rural mobility
- Evidence on mobility patterns and user-statistics provide an important basis for argumentation
The focus of the next partnership meeting in January 2023 will be on ways to increase regional resilience.
Find out more about the Pilot Action:
- https://territorialagenda.eu/pilot-actions/a-future-for-lagging-regions/
- www.bbsr.bund.de/tapilot-en