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Transit Operators

HertsLynx on-demand service reaches 50,000 passenger trips mark

There was excellent news for HertsLynx this month, as it reached the 50,000th passenger trips mark! This rural service, launched in late 2021, is leading the way in delivering public transport across rural areas. It serves the area around the Hertfordshire town of Buntingford. These areas, where some villages consist of only 30-40 houses, are difficult to serve with fixed line routes and around 40,000 people were more than a 15-minute walk from a bus stop.

When HertsLynx launched, people were quick to adopt the new service, both those people who live near the skeleton network of rural bus routes, but also in villages and hamlets which were not previously on bus routes. Customer surveys show it’s being used by a variety of people with about 25% of ticket sales to young people and 10% to older people. Key destinations include Freman College in Buntingford and stations in Royston and Stevenage. The service notably provides people in the area with a direct link to the Lister Hospital in Stevenage, which was previously only possible on public transport via a very circuitous route. Trip patterns also vary, as its used for a variety of purposes, with one in six passengers using the service 5-20 times a month to make about a third of the trips, and the majority of the others use it less regularly.

Padam Mobility is really proud to be working with Hertfordshire County Council to power this vital service.  The service has proved very popular and is being extended to cover the area below Buntingford as far as Ware.

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Best practice in Digital DRT and Community Transport – Q&A

 

Beate Kubitz, Victoria Armstrong, and Louise Currie discussing Best Practices in Community Transport

The recent webinar on Community Transport and DRT threw up some interesting questions. It focused on The Robin in the Forest of Dean, operated by community transport operator Lydney Dial-a-Ride and was hosted by Victoria Armstrong, CEO of the Community Transport Association (cta). Louise Currie from Lydney Dial-a-Ride provided insight into the community approach to running a sophisticated DRT operation, with metrics provided by independent transport consultant Beate Kubitz. We selected some commonly asked questions from the chat and outlined our replies below.

How did you promote the new service to everyone? We also have an older generation mainly in the area and have already had some passengers concerned about the DRT system to be implemented.

Working with a CT operator has been great for this. Lydney Dial-a-Ride already has good understanding of this group and in the webinar Louise outlined her approach to getting people on board. The data shows that we have seen great uptake from this demographic across app and call centre usage.”

I think a key metric when evaluating DRT is passengers carried per hour (or, to avoid issues with variations in distance, passenger boardings per hour). Would you agree that, if the result is lower than can be provided on a fixed route, the funds would be better spent on traditional fixed route (or timed many-to-one DRT) service?

We look at patronage per revenue our as a metric and want to grow this. However fixed line services would not be able to serve such a diverse range of destinations as the DRT where the virtual stops do not have to be distributed along linear routes and can provide for people across the area. Serving the same stops by fixed route would be very expensive . DRT provides more accessibility for more people. To improve value we try and design systems to carry people to a central hub, allowing them to make an onward journey on a bus or train. Also, in places where there is a fixed route service, there is an option to direct people towards the fixed route and ensure that DRT does not compete with routes served by commercial services.”

How can passengers guarantee a trip for a fixed arrival time, e.g. for medical appointments?

The Padam Mobility software that sits behind the DRT offers both a “depart at” and “arrive by” option when journeys are booked. We approach DRT from a public transport approach rather than a ride-hailing / taxi approach. This means that the arrival time is “locked in” after booking and is the latest time that you could arrive, inclusive of any other users that you share your journey with.”

Why does it have to be to bus stops – why can’t it be door-to-door?

Whilst it’s possible to run a door-to-door service, we’ve found that services with virtual stops work more efficiently. Virtual stops increase patronage rates as you are asking people to congregate at virtual or physical bus stops. Otherwise you could theoretically use a large amount of the flexible journey time stopping at each house on a street rather than a single collective stop. Also stop to stop services helps DRT distinguish itself from other services such as dial-a-ride that may be door-to-door given mobility needs of users.”

Is completely flexible DRT really sustainable? Some commentators suggest that many-to-one services (e.g. Petworth Route 99, Wiltshire Connect (ex-Wigglybus)) may stand a better chance (as has been proven over many years).

Semi-flexible DRT can help drive higher loadings but not all rural areas have population densities that can support this. Flexible DRT does have some place in the more isolated areas of the country, but can operate as a feeder service to key hubs, such as transport interchanges and town centres. The services in Gloucestershire and in Hertfordshire support this observation where 15-20% of trips start or end at rail stations.”

 

This article might interest you as well: DRT & Transport Consulting – Webinar with Xuefei Wang, Jack Holland and Chris Hillcoat – Q&A 

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Padam Mobility Launches New Demand Responsive Transport App as part of the Solent Future Transport Zone programme

Padam Mobility and SCiA Project Teams

In collaboration with Community Transport Organizations FYT Bus on the Isle of Wight and Southampton’s Social Care in Action (SCiA) Dial-a-Ride; Solent Transport and its four local authority partners, have introduced a new mobile app for the Solent region to improve access to FYT and SCiA’s services.

Specifically, FYT’s on-demand service will cater to residents and visitors on the western side of the Isle of Wight, while members of Dial-a-Ride in Southampton will be able to book SCiA’s Dial-a-Ride service through the new mobile app.

Powered by Padam Mobility, a globally renowned provider of dynamic demand-responsive technology, the new journey planning app aims to offer seamless and convenient access to public transportation on the Isle of Wight and across Southampton. To access these services, users can download the “FYT and SCIA Booking” app from the App Store or Google Play, select their local service and book their journey..

This innovation in community transport within the Solent region has been made possible through the support of the Solent Future Transport Zone (FTZ) programme, funded by the UK Department for Transport. Collaborating closely with FYT Bus and SciA Dial-a-Ride, the Solent FTZ will monitor and assess the advantages of on-demand transportation solutions. This valuable information will contribute to shaping transport policies at a national level.

Introducing the “FYT Bus On-Demand Service”

The on-demand FYT Bus, also known as the “Route E afternoon service” or West Wight FYT Bus, will be running only in the afternoons and aims to cater to the transportation needs of residents and tourists on the picturesque, west side of the Isle of Wight. This cutting-edge on-demand service is designed to offer convenience and flexibility, with the inclusion of virtual stops and several fixed points served during each ride. Passengers will experience a new level of convenience, allowing them to reach their destinations seamlessly.

Enhanced Accessibility with the “Southampton Dial-a-Ride Service”

In addition to FYT’s Route E afternoon service, Padam Mobility is delighted to provide Southampton Dial-a-Ride members with access to the “Southampton Dial-a-Ride Service” within the same app. This service, offered in collaboration with the SCiA Group is set to improve public transport accessibility in Southampton and the surrounding areas by offering real-time bookings across a website, call centre and mobile app.

Padam Mobility’s cutting-edge technology and expertise will be harnessed to enhance efficiency, streamline booking processes, and simplify management for users of the Southampton Dial a Ride Service. Passengers can look forward to an improved and more user-friendly experience, making travel within the city and beyond more accessible than ever before.

 

About Padam Mobility:

Founded in 2014, Padam Mobility provides digital on-demand public transport solutions to transform peri-urban and rural areas and provide better access to mobility services for all.

To achieve this, Padam Mobility provides a software suite with intelligent and flexible solutions that better adapt public transport services to real demand, especially in sparsely populated areas. The software suite is based on powerful algorithms and artificial intelligence.

Public transport operators, public authorities and private companies trust Padam Mobility when it comes to improving access to territories, enhancing mobility services and optimising operations. The company accompanies its clients on the road to operational excellence while promoting environmentally friendly mobility.

Padam Mobility was acquired by Siemens Mobility in May 2021. The company is headquartered in Paris.

About Solent Transport:

Solent Transport is changing the way the public travels in the Solent area; making it greener, healthier and economically stronger than it’s ever been before. Through the delivery of transport solutions, Solent Transport provides leadership, strategy and direction to support sustainable economic growth in the Solent area. Originally established in 2007, Solent Transport is an apolitical partnership between the councils of the Isle of Wight, Hampshire County, Portsmouth and Southampton. In collaboration with the local community, business, government and transport operators, Solent Transport undertakes research; develops transport policy and strategy; submits and supports funding bids; and lobbies for transport improvements that will benefit everyone.

About the Solent Future Transport Zone:

Solent Transport won £29m from the Department for Transport (DfT) to implement innovative future transport solutions around personal mobility and freight movements. The funding means the Solent area will benefit from several innovative transport solutions including: smartphone apps for planning and paying for sustainable journeys demand, e-bike share scheme, and new approaches to freight distribution, including drone freight trials for NHS deliveries across the Solent to the Isle of Wight. Funding will be allocated to different projects across the region. The Solent Future Transport Zone programme proposes to address local challenges such as high levels of car usage and the environmental impacts of freight movement within Solent’s urban areas. It will do this by delivering a series of complementary projects within two key themes: Personal Mobility and Sustainable Urban Logistics.

 

This article might interest you as well: Enhancing Accessibility in Rural Cheshire West and Chester with DRT Service “itravel”

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Padam Mobility launches “Buss On Demand” for Swedish public transport authority Västtrafik

  • The new DRT service is deployed in Ulricehamn, Vastra Gotaland
  • The aim of the first eight-month pilot is to investigate the influence of DRT on the mobility behaviour of the population
  • Users can already book their “Buss On Demand” by using the dedicated application

One of Sweden’s largest transport associations, Västtrafik, was looking for a solution to connect the less populated areas around the medium-sized city of Ulricehamn and thus improve the intra-urban mobility of its inhabitants. To do this as efficiently as possible, a digital solution was sought that would best meet the needs of the area.

The project is divided into several pilots. The first pilot will last 8 months and will investigate how the introduction of DRT affects the travel behaviour of the population. In order to expand the transport offer and also reach areas in the surrounding area, Västtrafik has opted for Padam Mobility’s on-demand solutions.

Ulricehamn belongs to the province of Västra Götalands Iän, which provides the app “Västtrafik To Go” to public transport users. With this travel app, which is available for Android and iOS devices, users can keep track of all public transport in the region and also buy tickets. For future pilot projects, it is planned to partially integrate the timetable information system HAFAS from the German company Hacon. Padam Mobility and Hacon are both wholly owned by Siemens Mobility and work as sister companies on intelligent software solutions for public road passenger transport. 

The first pilot project aims to demonstrate the impact of DRT solutions for local users in a service area limited to about 20 km². The trips are on-demand and not bound to a fixed route, meaning that users are transported to their desired destination in the quickest way possible in a free-floating configuration. The intelligent algorithms on which the system is based ensure that trip requests are bundled and passengers with similar destinations are transported in the same vehicle at the same time.

To simplify this process, Padam Mobility is introducing a new ticketing prototype that will allow users to pay for tickets for the on-demand service directly through the MaaS app via a deep link. The price is based on the existing fare structure, also valid season tickets are accepted on board the “Buss On Demand”. 

From the launch of the service, users can access the service from 7:00 am to 10:00 pm during the week and from 9:00 am to 10:00 pm on weekends. At the beginning of the project, one vehicle will be deployed, however, the fleet can be flexibly expanded by another vehicle according to demand. 

 

About Västtrafik

Västtrafik is responsible for public transport in the Västra Götaland region, Sweden. Every day, over 444,000 customers choose to travel with our buses, trains, trams and boats. By developing and offering sustainable trips and smart services, we want to be the obvious choice when you travel. In this way, Västtrafik contributes to provide a foundation for sustainable growth in Västra Götaland. An attractive and competitive region.

About Padam Mobility 

Founded in 2014, Padam Mobility provides digital on-demand public transport solutions to transform peri-urban and rural areas and provide better access to mobility services for all.

To achieve this, Padam Mobility provides a software suite with intelligent and flexible solutions that better adapt public transport services to real demand, especially in sparsely populated areas. The software suite is based on powerful algorithms and artificial intelligence.

Public transport operators, task managers and private companies trust Padam Mobility when it comes to improving access to territories, enhancing mobility services and optimising operations. The company accompanies its clients on the road to operational excellence while promoting environmentally friendly mobility. 

Padam Mobility was acquired by Siemens Mobility in May 2021. The company is headquartered in Paris. 

About Hacon 

For over 35 years, Hacon has been developing software that helps transport operators optimise processes and make travelling as easy as possible for passengers. The company aims to ensure that its solutions help to establish public transport as a viable alternative to the private car. To this end, Hacon is constantly developing its portfolio: Mobility as a Service, Travel Information and Ticketing, Operator Business Products or Timetable Design and Scheduling – Hacon’s products cover all aspects of intelligent transport systems. 

Hacon links public and private transport and provides travellers with over 100 million door-to-door route calculations every day. In addition to regional platforms, Hacon also develops nationwide solutions, e.g. for the Netherlands and Spain. Hacon has been part of Siemens Mobility since 2017. The company is headquartered in Hanover. 

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Enhancing Accessibility in Rural Cheshire West and Chester with DRT Service “itravel”

iTravel

Padam Mobility provides the on-demand solution for Cheshire West and Chester Council

  • Cheshire West and Chester Council commissions Padam Mobility to introduce “itravel”, an on-demand service addressing the lack of public transport in rural regions.
  • The seventh DRT service by Padam Mobility in the UK aims to connect remote regions with fixed main lines and key locations, benefiting residents with limited mobility options.
  • Supported by £1.075 million from the Department for Transport’s Rural Mobility Fund, “itravel” is a three-year pilot project, contributing to the improvement of rural mobility with innovative solutions.

Cheshire West and Chester Council is taking a proactive step to tackle the transportation challenges faced by residents in rural areas. Traditional public transport providers often struggle to maintain service levels on fixed routes due to unpredictable demand, resulting in inadequate services for people who live in places away from main routes. In response to this dilemma, the Council has teamed up with Padam Mobility, renowned for its Demand-Responsive Transport (DRT) expertise, to introduce “itravel”, an innovative on-demand service, operated by Stagecoach.

With “itravel,” residents in the borough’s remote areas will gain better access to key destinations and fixed main lines. The service aims to reduce residents’ reliance on personal vehicles and promote inclusivity by providing mobility options for the elderly, individuals with reduced mobility, and young people who cannot travel independently.

Unlike conventional public transportation, “itravel” operates on a free-floating model, accommodating user bookings to tailor its routes dynamically. Users can easily book trips within the designated zone up to 30 days in advance, while those seeking spontaneous travel are advised to book at least an hour before departure.

To ensure a seamless experience, Padam Mobility offers the “itravel” user app, allowing users to effortlessly search, book, and manage their journeys. The app also provides real-time tracking of the vehicle’s route. For individuals without smartphones or who prefer alternative booking methods, the service is easily accessible through the website or phone reservations.

The “itravel” project receives support from the Department for Transport’s Rural Mobility Fund, with an allocation of £1.075 million. This three-year pilot project is part of the broader initiative to enhance rural mobility, with a total funding volume of £19,411,523 shared among 17 successful applications.

The official launch of “itravel” is scheduled for 31st July, marking a significant step towards improving accessibility and transportation options for residents in rural Cheshire West and Chester. As a visionary solution, “itravel” demonstrates the commitment to fostering efficient, inclusive, and sustainable mobility solutions for all.

 

This article might interest you as well: Padam Mobility Joins PAVE Europe to Educate and Innovate in Autonomous Transport 

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DRT & Transport Consulting – Webinar with Xuefei Wang, Jack Holland and Chris Hillcoat – Q&A 

Demand-Responsive Transport (DRT) aims to reach people where access to the public transport network is scarce or non-existent, for example in outlying or very rural areas. In fact, the idea of providing people with transportation on demand is not new. However, digitalised on-demand transport optimises the resources used, chooses more efficient routes and operates in such a way that as many people as possible are served at the same time. The concept of DRT is undoubtedly revolutionising the public transport offer, yet it requires careful planning and management. Each area has different characteristics, including its geographical setting, as well as population density, and mobility habits of the citizens, among others. 

To illustrate how Padam Mobility works in setting up DRT services as well as providing insights into the (technical) options available to the Transport Consulting team to model on-demand transport, we hosted a webinar together with Landor Links. Chaired by Chris Hillcoat, mobility expert at KPMG, Xuefei Wang, Head of Transport Consulting, and Jack Holland, Head of Business Development, Northern Europe, exchanged in-depth views from theory and practice.

The interest in the webinar was huge. The audience could ask their questions to the panellists in advance or during the webinar. However, 90 minutes was hardly enough to answer all questions in detail. Therefore, we summarise the most frequently asked questions in the following article. Your question is not included or you would like to contact Xuefei or Jack about another topic? – You can reach them at xuefei@padam.io or jack@padam.io. 

  • When you model a DRT service, what are the most important contextual questions? 

When we model a DRT service, we always aim to fill gaps in the existing public transport offer. This can also mean that a DRT service complements an already fixed line at certain times of the day or that the line is transformed into a DRT service when demand is low, for example at off-peak times. 

There are also various contextual aspects that we include in our analysis: Demographics (Who are potential users and what are their needs?), Geography (What are the points of interest in the area? Are there remote areas?, etc.), Economics (Are there industrial sites in the area? Does it make sense to set up transport for employees?), Mobility (What is the modal split in the area? What other mobility providers are present? How do locals usually get around?) and Policy (Is there a local mobility plan? What funds are available for mobility measures?).

All these aspects can shed light on what kind of DRT services people in an area need and influence the modelling of the service: Use case, service design, size of the fleet, costs, number of potential users, etc. 

  • Do you have guides on the minimum and maximum populations, trip densities etc. which support a successful DRT service? 

Rural services covering vast areas with a free-floating design are likely to have a vehicle occupancy rate of 2 – 3 passengers per hour (at maturity). 

Peri-urban services with quite densely populated areas are likely to have occupancy rates of 3 – 5 passengers per hour with a free-floating design. It could be possible to have 6+ in certain service designs if the ingredients are right – such as feeder or virtual lines to a popular transport hub or workplace in peak times. 

Minimum population – DRT can cover extremely rural areas, but high subsidies would have to be considered.

Maximum population – In European urban areas with strong bus networks and other public transport, DRT is unlikely to be needed or have a positive effect on congested roads. Here, the focus should be on mass public transport.

  • What are some of the characteristics of rural areas in relation to DRT? Do these characteristics make it easier or harder to operate? 

In very rural areas, the distance between destinations is greater, so bundling can be less efficient than in suburban areas. In this case, feeder services in combination with free-floating can be a good service concept, and attempts should also be made to combine D2D-Dial-a-Ride with DRT from bus stop to bus stop.

In addition, deploying EVs is a big challenge in rural areas. Minibuses are a real challenge for battery capacity as they do not have a large footprint for battery capacity, unlike full sizes buses. 

There may also be signal problems with the internet, which can disrupt operations. One solution could be using a multi-sim onboard router that picks up different internet providers. Another solution is to print the itinerary for the day as a PDF file so that the driver can use it as a reference, but this would only list the pre-booked passengers, which means less flexibility for cancellations and bookings on that day.

  • What are some of the common misunderstandings about DRT you see in tenders from local and regional authorities? 

DRT services with only one vehicle can cover a large area, but can also only reach a very small number of passengers and are therefore often insufficient for residents.

In the UK, most DRTs focus on the free-floating service as a one-size-fits-all service solution. However, from a commercial point of view, other service concepts often involve lower subsidies – semi-flexible, virtual and feeder services can complement free-floating at peak times by targeting demand in specific areas.

Compared to the US, France and Scandinavian countries, we are not yet as advanced in integrating DRT with other modes of transport, such as dial-a-ride, door-to-school, taxi, etc. However, such integration would help to reduce the overall cost of implementation.

Also, pricing in tenders is often based on a trip-per-vehicle model. However, for larger projects, per-trip models may work much better.

  • How can DRT contribute to accessibility and inclusion?

Studies suggest that lack of access to transport puts people at a much greater risk of social isolation. This can in turn lead to high levels of funding needed for healthcare, lack of work, and lack of access to vital goods and services. DRT and dial-a-ride (plus community transport) are essential for serving these areas.

Transport for the North estimates that 3.3 million people in the North of England, or 21.3% of the population, live in areas in which there is a relatively high risk of social exclusion because of issues with the transport system. These areas are widely distributed across the North but are particularly concentrated in former manufacturing and mining communities, in coastal areas, and in smaller towns and cities. The research tells us that high levels of car dependency are the key driver of TRSE (transport-related social exclusion) in the North. This has been exacerbated by declining bus service provision – reducing the travel choices for the most vulnerable people in our communities

  • How does DRT interact with other public transport modes, individually and in a MaaS platform? Can it create efficiencies for bus companies?

One of our most important principles is the integration of DRT into the existing transport network. Non-competition is a very effective tool for this, ensuring that DRT services do not cannibalise fixed bus services. The non-competition feature allows users to be directed to the existing fixed-route service instead of offering a DRT ride.

MaaS is an important concept to integrate DRT as a first and last-mile solution to connect people to existing services. In doing so, feeder services, for example, can effectively take people from their desired stop to key nodes, such as train stations.

  • How do you create a DRT proposition which fills the gap in general transport provision and doesn’t detract from fixed route services whilst also being easy for customers to understand? 

Padam Mobility has recently launched a new feature that allows displaying alternative fixed-line services and redirecting users directly to these services. In this way, we achieve that DRT services do not compete with the existing fixed bus line network and thus become counterproductive.  

  • Do you have examples of how to get integration between DRT and mainline bus services and the railway network? 

Yes, we can use bus and railway timetables in the back office. This schedules the DRT service to meet the timetable (e.g. 5 minutes before). Our best use case for this is the Greater Paris region. We operate 125 vehicles that serve more than 60 metro stations. This generates 700,000 trips each year that connect people to the metro or intercity train. 

We also operate another scheme in Strasbourg using 40 electric minibuses which expands the tram network into the rural areas surrounding the line terminus. 

  • Scheme economics have always been a challenge for this type of scheme. How would you go about making the best case possible in any given situation? 

We believe that DRT funding should be looked at across the silos of funding, not solely on DRT-specific funding. This should look at existing Community Transport funding, dial-a-ride funding, home-to-school and Section 106 Grant Funding to create a long-term funding plan for DRT.

 

This article could might interest you as well: Transport planning and DRT 

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Transport planning and DRT

survey
An Article by Beate Kubitz

Some areas of the UK have become transport deserts, served by public transport a few times per week if at all. This worrying trend has come into focus as the need to cut transport emissions has become more pressing. At the same time, social and economic issues (for instance the productivity gap between the UK and its European neighbours) point to the absence of public transport as a factor in deprivation and economic lassitude.

Reversing the desertification trend is a tricky long term project, but it’s one that progressive local authorities are tackling.

The Padam Moblity transport planning team works on how to use DRT to help ensure that more people have better access to public transport. We use our transport planning tools analyse the existing transport network and the population and work out the best way to link them together. From this analysis we can simulate usage to show authorities the journeys we would anticipate, and look at different scenarios and configurations. This is an inexpensive way to help authorities make decisions about their network and where DRT can improve it. Once we have demonstrated different options we use them to suggest DRT pilots and their impacts.

Transport connections and fixed routes can be a difficult match, particularly in rural areas. To illustrate the kinds of situations we tackle, imagine you’re trying to get passengers to a railway station where trains leave every 30 minutes in each direction – so, every hour there’s a train to Town A or Town B. This frequency of service isn’t unusual for a smaller rural station – indeed you could argue it’s pretty good these days – but it creates headaches for anyone planning a feeder service using a fixed route bus.

Bus speeds on rural roads aren’t stellar. On smaller roads, or passing through settlements, they may be around 20 mph average speed moving (not including stops). Even if the overall average speed is 20 mph, this means the longest possible route you can cover with a single vehicle while still offering an hourly connecting service is 10 miles (because the bus will need to make a return journey too). Once you factor in the distance users are willing to walk to stops (which can be very low for elderly passengers, or anyone with small children in tow) the population covered by a service shrinks still further.

Then there is the question of when to drop off and pick up your passengers at the station. The wait for a connection affects not just the journey time but also its overall quality, especially if it’s at a small station with no facilities. Ideally there needs to be enough time between the bus arriving and the train departing that a couple of minutes’ lateness won’t cause a missed connection, but also not so much that passengers are left waiting on a cold, exposed station platform for a protracted period of time. If the bus visits the station every hour, it might be the case that it can only connect well with services to Town A, while the train to Town B may involve a wait of 20 or 30 minutes.

What about passengers arriving to catch the connecting service? You could factor in some layover time at the station but that would reduce the overall length of route than you can serve while still keeping the same frequency.

Under these circumstances the DRT model of putting in a booking via a call centre or an app, being collected from outside or near your front door, and being able to divert or change should something happen to the connecting train, starts to look very appealing.

A second advantage for DRT is that the buses can take a more direct route. If a fixed bus route is programmed to travel near more homes (enabling it to pick up more people) this generally means diverting the route so that it’s not direct. For instance, it may pass through a housing estate off the main journey trajectory or, in rural areas, via a village, creating a less direct and much longer route with more stops. Obviously there is no guarantee that there will be people at all those stops, however the bus is still obliged to follow the time table. This extends the lengths of journeys making them longer than the equivalent trip by car, often by several times the journey time. In contrast, DRT only diverts to pick up known passengers, and whilst the trip will be longer than the trip by car, the difference is much smaller.

All these considerations go into designing the provision of DRT. But it doesn’t stop there. Once there is a pilot in place our transport planning team can simulate different scenarios to work out how to improve performance. Are more vehicles required at certain times of day or could some be cut and journeys reorganised to ensure the same performance?

The longer term impact is that the network is being designed with knowledge of where people want to go. DRT bookings enable us to see the desire lines for transport – the most popular origins and destinations for journeys. Origins and destinations, together with the times of day people are requesting trips, create indicators we look for to see whether the routes can be adapted to semi-fixed or fixed at certain times of day. As ridership increases, this becomes more likely and more practical. Using desired trips on DRT as a guide also means that any fixed lines can be optimised for the journeys people want to make. Of course, the limitations of fixed lines won’t meet everyone’s needs, so it’s unlikely to completely remove the need for DRT, however, creating a mixed of fixed and DRT services can optimise the overall network.

With the tool of DRT in our transport planning toolbox, we can design a network to meet more people’s needs, more of the time – and start to make transport deserts bloom.

 

This article might interest you as well: Accessing rural bus services – how can we ensure equity? 

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Accessing rural bus services – How can we ensure equity? – Q&A

Hertfordshire County Council has been providing the HertsLynx on-demand service since 2021. The service was the first Demand-Responsive Transport (DRT) to be funded by the Rural Mobility Fund, with the council receiving a total of £1.4 million in funding from the UK Department for Transport in spring 2021.

The DRT, developed by Padam Mobility, was designed to improve the mobility challenges of the rural area. In north east Hertfordshire, public transport services were infrequent and sparse. A total of 10 neighbourhoods, with a population of around 4,000 people, had no access to a public bus at all, with the deprivation that entails. These people relied on a private car to get to work, go shopping or attend leisure activities, and if they did not have access to one, relied on family, friends and neighbours for all their transport needs.

The newly introduced HertsLynx service was implemented in areas where commercial services do not operate for economic reasons. The 400 km² service area covers six Key Town Hubs connected to the rural areas. Rather than following a fixed route, the on-demand service transports users in a free-floating configuration along the fastest route to their destination. All existing bookings are processed by an algorithm and calculated in such a way that as many passengers as possible are grouped together in the same vehicle.

Rapid uptake of the Hertfordshire County Council HertsLynx on-demand service and its digitised Dial-a-Ride service demonstrates the impact that accessible public transport can have on the quality of life of people in rural areas.

In a recent webinar, hosted in partnership with Landor Links, Alice Missler, DRT/Community Transport Team Leader at HCC, and James West, UK Business Development Manager at Padam Mobility, talked about what sets the HertsLynx service part and what makes it successful. There was great interest in the webinar and the limited time available made it almost impossible to answer all the participants’ questions. The following Q&A answers some of the most frequently asked questions. We are of course also available for a personal discussion if you are interested in our services. Please contact Jack Holland (jack@padam.io) or James West (james@padam.io).

Q&A from the Padam Mobility Webinar, 10 May 2023, presented by Landor Links and hosted by Matthew Clark, Steer:

Alice Missler, Matthew Clark and James West discussing “Accessing rural bus services – How can we ensure equity?”
The HertsLynx DDRT service
  • Can the current HertsLynx fare allow the service to operate commercially rather than having to be funded?
    • Ticket revenue alone is currently not sufficient to make the HertsLynx service economically viable. The ultimate goal is to reach people without access to a functioning public transport service. The HertsLynx service will continue to rely on funding in the future, but efforts are already underway to make the service more efficient by, for example, combining the DRT with school trips and other use cases.
  • How have you promoted the service (to different target groups)?
    • By increasing accessibility and creating awareness. For example, the service hours were extended at weekends. The HertsLynx evening service runs on Friday and Saturday from 20:00 to 23:30 in the regular HertsLynx area and gives young people, in particular, more freedom in their leisure activities.
  • Is there still an impact of the pandemic on user numbers?
    • The HertsLynx service was launched at the height of the covid19 pandemic, which was reflected in the user numbers at launch. Today, the impact post-pandemic on passenger numbers is hardly noticeable. Passenger numbers have increased significantly since the service was introduced.
  • Has the £2 cap attracted new bus users or only helped existing ones?
    • We have seen a slight increase in ridership, although this cannot necessarily be traced back to the £2 cap. However, making public transport affordable for all is certainly important and impacts how people perceive public transport.
  • How can users pay for a ticket?
    • HertsLynx is a cashless service. When registering in the app, users need to provide their debit/credit card details so that rides can be charged to that card. There is also the option to buy credits.
  • How will users be warned if there is a problem with the vehicle (e.g. a breakdown) and the trip cannot be carried out?
    • We can display current messages both on our website or via the app and inform users about timetable changes on time. We recommend allowing push notifications to receive the latest news directly.
  • How can older people who don’t have a smartphone book a ride with the service?
    • There are several ways to book a trip with the HertsLynx service. Users who do not want to book via the app can alternatively book a journey via phone or website.
  • Is there data (e.g. origin and destination) to show whether services are successfully targeting people with limited access to transport?
    • Yes, we collect movement data that shows at which stops in the service area users get on and off. As the service area was set up to provide non-served or underserved places with a reliable public transport service, we can assess where the service is successfully fulfilling this task. This data analysis is very important to guarantee that the service is deployed in a way that meets the HCC’s objective.

      Area before the introduction of the DDRT and graphic of the HertsLynx service area: It can be clearly seen that the service area serves the previously free area (no public transport stops).
DRT provided by Padam Mobility
  • How does the interchange between DRT services and bus, coach or rail services work?
    • The existing public transport network is of great importance when setting up a DRT service. It is possible, for example, to integrate the regional train timetable into the on-demand platform and create services that are subject to certain time constraints.
  • Who receives the data generated by the service?
    • Padam Mobility’s customers get all the data collected about a service and have sovereignty over the use of the data.
  • What is the difference in booking when offering a service from “point to point” rather than “door to door”?
    • In the case of a door-to-door booking, users can specify their home as a pick-up or drop-off point and be transported from there to a desired point. This configuration is particularly used for paratransit trips to facilitate access to mobility for users with reduced mobility. When booking stop-to-stop or point-to-point, users choose fixed or virtual stops in their proximity from where they want to start or end their trip. Virtual stops are usually set up close together so that users have short walks. They are not physically visible or are usually marked with a small sign or similar. Services running between virtual stops are usually faster as they deviate less from their routes to pick up passengers.
  • How high are the staffing requirements for DRT services compared to scheduled bus services? Considering the shortage of qualified bus drivers, higher staffing requirements could be an obstacle to the introduction of a DRT system.
    • DRT services reduce driver requirements and improve recruitment. DRT services often have a smaller fleet of vehicles than fixed-route buses so fewer drivers are needed to cover the area. In addition, DRT fleets consist of minibuses with about 6 to 16 seats. With the common driving licence class B, it is possible to operate a minibus with up to eight seats.

 

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Accessing rural bus services – how can we ensure equity?

hertslynx
Article by Beate Kubitz

Transport provision and population density tend to correlate closely – and in some ways, this makes a lot of sense. Services are more likely to be well used where there are large populations within a short walk of them. But what about areas where people are more thinly and evenly spread?

Many areas of the UK are populated in a pattern of small villages, spread out over large areas, rather than in high-density clusters. There may be several potential destinations for shopping, education and work, and the resulting travel patterns traced out between multiple origins and destinations show few highly utilised corridors. Bus services tend to be difficult to sustain because passenger numbers are low – both because of the absolute numbers of people within the area and also because of a high rate of car utilisation amongst those people. The net result means that the carbon footprint per person is far too high.

The challenge of creating frequent, regular fixed line services in areas like this that serve a high proportion of the population is one of the reasons that Hertfordshire developed a Demand-Responsive Transport service, HertsLynx, for one poorly-served area.

Buntingford

East Hertfordshire is an area with a relatively low population density, with 316 persons/km2. The neighbouring authority, North Hertfordshire is a little denser, with 355 persons/km2 [1]. However, neither authority has many large population clusters, with 40% of North Hertfordshire’s population focused outside the three towns of Baldock, Hitchin and Letchworth, whilst in East Hertfordshire around 57% are outside the two towns of Bishop’s Stortford and Ware.

There are areas where this pattern is exaggerated. The zone bounded by Royston in the north, Stevenage in the west and Bishop’s Stortford in the east, is home to around 50,000 people. with people distributed across the area in isolated dwellings, small hamlets and villages with only one small town, Buntingford (population 6,844).

The area surrounding Buntingford is very dispersed. Villages consist of just 30-40 houses. Many people travel within the area or to jobs, services and rail links located in surrounding towns: Stevenage, Letchworth, Hitchin, Baldock, Royston and Bishop’s Stortford. Two corridor bus routes cross the area but are infrequent and, before the establishment of HertsLynx, most people in the area had little or no access to public transport.

At the same time, analysis of transport stops in the area show them to be sparse. When it comes to bus stops that are served hourly [2], only a small population segment is covered.

This notion of frequency is important for people it both empowers those dependent on public transport and enables drivers to see public transport as an alternative.

 

Whilst a 30-minute frequency is more standard as the ‘freedom metric’ in cities, it has been adjusted down for rural areas where there is more tolerance in general of longer waits.

The map shows the areas which are walkable in 5, 10 and 15 minutes to these bus stops, a tiny proportion of the zone.

The large clusters in the east cover Stevenage and Royston (not part of either authority but included as a transport destination for those within the area), Hitchin and Letchworth, whilst the south-west cluster covers Bishop’s Stortford. The only places within the rural area that see buses with these frequencies are Buntingford, Standon, Ashwell (and Ashwell Station).

The net consequence is that the vast majority of the rural population of the area cannot access these bus stops, even via a 15-minute walk – an estimated 40,000 of the 50,000 people living within the area. Viewed from this perspective, it is unsurprising that people living in the area drive further and more often than average [3].

It’s also a huge issue for thoe people who do not drive or have access to a car. Poor services and long distances to bus stops represent barriers to accessing opportunities, amenities and leisure. The consequences of this can then be linked to increased loneliness and other associated costs to the local community and economy.

However, solutions for providing alternative transport in low density populations are tricky. The spread of homes – the origins of most journeys – and their key destinations; the jobs, schools, colleges, services and leisure facilities make the creation of cost-efficient routes difficult. There are multiple journey combinations, with relatively small percentages of the population making each variation, often spread across the day.

Services designed to connect people

To create services which are accessible to more of the population, bus stops need to be distributed across the area. For traditional models of bus services, this is difficult to do. However, for on-demand bus services, it is more attainable. The map below shows the distribution and walkability of the virtual bus stops for the HertsLynx DDRT service.

The image shows actual stops of the on-demand bus service launched in the zone, with walking isochrones at 5, 10 and 15 minutes. Stops in Royston, Bishop’s Stortford, Letchworth, Hitchin and Stevenage are ‘key hubs’ and lie outside the zone served. They are interchanges and can’t be used to travel within the towns.

HertsLynx

The HertsLynx service was commissioned by Hertfordshire County Council funded by the DfT Rural Mobility Fund and launched in 2021, with three minibuses.

HertsLynx service is designed to cover a higher percentage of the population, enabling many more people to walk to meet buses from most of the hamlets and villages.

Initially journeys were from ‘free floating’ areas to key hub towns but increasingly, journeys are being made within the zone and the buses being used for trips like GP visits, social calls and shopping. School and college students have proved to be enthusiastic users with up to 12% of daily trips serving the college north of Buntingford. These students would previously have been reliant on lifts from family and friends.

It exceeded its year one target of 12,000 trips within 10 months. By the end of the first year, over 350 trips per week were made on the service. Many people have become regular users, booking ahead to ensure that they can reach their destinations in a timely fashion.

 

[1] ONS  https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/censuspopulationchange/E07000242/

[2] Jarrett Walker, Human Transit: How Clearer Thinking about Public Transit can Enrich our Communities and our Lives, 2011

[3] Morgan, Malcolm, Anable, Jillian, & Lucas, Karen. (2021). A place-based carbon calculator for England. Presented at the 29th Annual GIS Research UK Conference (GISRUK), Cardiff, Wales, UK (Online): Zenodo. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4665852

 

 

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Why does Transport Consulting matter? – A conversation with mobility engineer and transport consultant Xuefei Wang

Business values
Xuefei Wang, Team Lead Transport Consulting at Padam Mobility
Xuefei Wang, Team Lead Transport Consulting at Padam Mobility

There is no one-fits-all solution for DRT services. The introduction of new mobility systems in a specific area requires a great deal of expertise and precise analysis to ensure that services are successful, i.e. that they meet customer and user needs in the best possible way. Transport consulting is therefore a key area for Padam Mobility. In-house mobility consultants and engineers help customers develop the on-demand service that can best solve their existing public transport problems.

One of these mobility experts is Xuefei Wang. Xuefei has been working at Padam Mobility for four years, starting as Customer Success Manager. His intensive experience in multiple areas of the company makes him one of the most experienced mobility consultants at Padam today. In the interview, he told us more about his passion for transport consulting. We also talked about which steps are necessary to be able to create the perfect service design. Among other things, we touched on the importance of data and the courage to innovate.

How did you come to Padam Mobility and what is your job like today?

I have been working at Padam for over 4 years now. I started as an intern in the Customer Success Team and then worked as a Customer Success Manager for about 2 years. 2 years ago we founded the Transport Consulting Team, I was in the founding team and for about a year now and I have been leading this team”.

What is your professional or academic background?

I have a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from one of the leading universities in China, Tsinghua University. After that, I started working in a young tech start-up in the field of logistics/mobile applications in China. I was one of the founding members and the Director of Operations from 2016 to 2018. Later in 2018, I came to France and spent a year at École des Ponts ParisTech doing a Master’s in Transport and Sustainable Development”.

What do you understand by ‘Transport Consulting’ in your current function? What services does Padam Mobility offer in this context?

At Padam Mobility, it is very important to us to answer our customers’ needs in the best possible way. That is why we established the Transport Consulting Team. At that time, we particularly noticed how much customers and potential customers need advice from experts in the field of on-demand transport in order to make the right decisions. Although they are interested in on-demand services, they lack the necessary expertise to set up such services. For example, they don’t know how many vehicles they will need, how much the service will cost, etc. So they need help and advice to set everything up. Over the years we have gathered an enormous amount of knowledge and data about on-demand transport services, this data is probably one of the most important assets of this company today. We can help our customers solve their problems and make decisions, save money, and simultaneously offer a high-quality public mobility service.

My previous role as Customer Success Manager prepared me perfectly for this position. Customer Success Managers work closely with the customer, especially in the phase between the procurement decision and the launch of the service. It is essential to understand exactly what the customer needs and how the software can meet those needs. However, through my studies, I gained further knowledge, not only in using the Padam software but also in transport engineering, which helps me support customers with very complex and complicated problems”.

What are the different steps that comprise a transport consultancy? How do you approach a new client’s project?

I compare the work of our team to the work of a doctor. We have patients and we have to find out what they are missing and how we can help them. We start by making what is called a “territorial diagnosis” which begins with general questions such as what problem does the client want to solve? Why do they want to set up an on-demand transport service? For example, do the client have fixed, costly bus routes or want to expand public transport services? We can derive what the later solution can look like based on the needs.

Then we need certain demographic data, for example where do people live, where do they work, where do they recreate, what is the age structure, etc. and geographical information, such as what does the area look like, and what are the special features? We also ask about political and economic structures. All this information can influence our recommendations. There are different ways to get information: In Europe, there are often openly accessible data that are freely provided by public institutions, for example. We also ask our clients for data, sometimes they have already conducted user surveys on mobility or they have operational data from the existing transport offer. After analysing all this data, it is possible for us to understand how people move in certain areas.

In some cases, we can already make recommendations for the future on-demand service design after the diagnosis. This is partly because we already have a lot of experience with this process and are able to say which configurations are suitable for a certain type of territory. Sometimes, however, we have to dig deeper, for example, if the client wants more info or if the territory is very large or particular. In this case, we have the possibility to create simulations. Besides territorial diagnostics, this is the second service our team offers to clients. For this, we have a specially developed tool called “Padam Simulations”, which uses the same algorithms as our on-demand solution. It allows us to see exactly how our software reacts in certain situations. We usually simulate one day, which means we create a set of vehicles that have to serve realistic customer flows at certain times. Once we have created these parameters, we start the simulation. By doing this, we can see how the service would perform under real conditions. For example, if we see in the later evaluation that trips were rejected at certain times, it is possible that not enough vehicles were deployed”.

That means you also focus on worst case scenarios?

We usually create many different scenarios and also change the service design. There can be thousands of possible scenarios, so we discuss in advance with the client which specific scenarios to run.

The good thing about “Padam Simulations” is the qualitative results. We can see how many vehicles are needed at what time and with how many seats, what the service design should look like, i.e. free-floating, feeder, virtual line and so on. With this information, we can make very precise proposals.

Do you also pay attention to whether there are existing fixed bus routes or other means of public transport and how they might influence the performance of the DRT?

Exactly, these considerations are already taken into account in the territorial diagnosis, which is what the simulation is based on, so the existing public transport network is always taken into account”.

What happens if you can’t collect enough data before the simulation?

It is actually particularly difficult to predict how many people might use the service. If there is absolutely no historical data for this, we have to model the demand. This is where our experience from other projects and the skills that we bring as transport engineers help us enormously”.

Are there other services besides territorial diagnostics and simulation that you and your team offer to clients?

So far, what we have been talking about is the Feasibility Study, which includes territorial diagnostics, simulations and finally service design proposals. That is a big part of what we offer as a Transport Consulting Team. The other part of our services we call “Professional Services”. We offer these services to existing clients. They consist of the performance analysis of the service. Here we analyse the data of the service and try to further improve certain KPIs, such as pooling rate, customer satisfaction, etc. We also provide certain tools that help the client to monitor and understand their service in the best possible way”.

What is your experience with setting up virtual stops?

Virtual stops can be set up, for example, if the customer wants to offer users of on-demand services a narrow network of stops in order to keep the walking distance as short as possible. These stops can be made visible with a dot in the app, for example. I see virtual stops critically, as it can be difficult for users to orient themselves if they do not find a physical stop. Some of our clients solve this dilemma with a compromise and, for example, place small signs or stickers at the respective locations”.

Do you have any tips for transport authorities or other public mobility service providers on how to successfully introduce a DRT service?

On-demand transport works differently from traditional public passenger transport, but we see time and again that customers equate DRT with virtual lines, i.e. a service that follows a fixed line configuration. There is some fear of moving away from this and onto a different model, such as zonal on-demand transport. Although we have already seen that dividing the service area into smaller zones can achieve good results, clients are often sceptical at first. Therefore, I think mobility designers should think more innovatively in this regard.

Marketing also plays an important role. Users often do not know at the beginning what DRT is and how they can use it. So user communication plays an important role. We can see very well at the beginning of a new service the effect of marketing measures. If users feel well-informed, trip numbers usually increase rapidly. By the way, if clients need support on this point, they also have the opportunity to be advised by our marketing team at Padam Mobility. We can give tips on how to communicate the function of on-demand services and how best to reach customers.

Another important topic is introducing customers to digitalisation. We have a client who already had an on-demand service, however, all bookings were done through a call centre, which was costly and not very practical. So the client was looking to encourage users to make more bookings through the app. Consequently, the client instructed the call centre staff to ask users if they knew about the app booking option every time they received a call. As a result, the number of call centre bookings dropped from 100% to about 60% in only a few weeks”.

What other tips can you give clients to reduce costs?

There are several examples of customers who have managed to reduce the cost of their on-demand service. For example, by combining different services that were used for different user groups, such as transport for schoolchildren, transport for people with reduced mobility and users without special needs. This way, vehicles are better utilised and resources are saved.

It is also possible to start off services as pilot projects in order to minimise the risk of failure. We also advise starting with small zones and fewer vehicles and then gradually increasing the service area and fleet. Adding new areas on a platform is much easier than fundamentally rebuilding the service”.

What future projects are in the pipeline? Can we advise customers on on-demand AV services, for example?

Certainly. We have a dedicated AV team at Padam and also some live services. So we are already in a position to advise clients on the implementation of on-demand AV services”.

Thank you for your time, Xuefei!

 

This article might also interest you: AV in public road transport – A cutting-edge technology

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