Mobility is a basic prerequisite for economic and social participation, yet particularly in rural areas, the creation of an inclusive and sustainable transport system is a major challenge. In the interview with Dr Alexandra Appel, Head of the Mobility Department at IKEMwe discuss possible solutions, the concept of ‘rural areas’ and the objectives of IKEM project MobiLR, which was launched in October.
What role does mobility play in our everyday lives?
Despite the increase in digitalisation, we have to and want to move from A to B in order to have access to educational institutions, health services and jobs and to be able to participate in community life. Mobility is therefore a basic prerequisite for the provision of services of general interest and the equivalence of living conditions – which is why it must be guaranteed regardless of where you live. This is not always the case, especially outside of urban centers.
What challenges are there in rural areas?
As a geographer, it is important to point out that the construct of ‘rural area’ cannot be considered in isolation. These regions are always linked and connected to other places, often places of high centrality.
Despite this, distances are often greater in rural areas, which means that the frequency and density of public transport stops is often inadequate. Cycle paths are also not available everywhere. As a consequence, many people are dependent on their cars. 60 per cent of all journeys in the countryside are made by car or other motor vehicles and CO2-footprint is almost 25 percent higher per person in rural areas than it is in cities. Younger or older people in particular, who are unable to drive themselves, are thus restricted in their mobility..
Another critical issue is funding: attractive local public transport or other mobility services require considerable financial resources, which are more difficult to secure in rural regions. In addition, socio-economic and demographic structures play a significant role. Structural change, ageing and outward migration have a strong influence on mobility needs and services.
Women’s mobility is also a separate topic that has received too little attention to date. As care work continues to be carried out primarily by women, their journeys are often more complex and therefore less easy to manage with poorly timed public transport services.
Are there any solutions to this?
Ideas for innovative rural mobility services are being trialled and implemented all over Europe. In the area of public transport, attempts are often made to save costs – for example, through on-demand bus systems with an online booking function or highly automated vehicles that are intended to operate without drivers in the future. New revenue opportunities are also being looked into: for example, electric buses with their large batteries could stabilise the grid in the future and receive money from network operators in return.
Cycling also has tremendous potential in rural areas – as long as the necessary infrastructure is provided. The Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark in particular have concepts for cycling that also take rural areas into account and thus enable safe and car-independent mobility. Other countries could take a leaf out of their book.
Why are such solutions often limited to certain countries or regions?
It is precisely these two questions that we want to clarify as part of our new MobiLR project. There is no question that mobility in rural areas is in need of improvement. However, the political demand for better offers often fails due to a lack of knowledge about effective measures and their implementation. The EU initiative SMARTA-NET
for example, has shown that very few European countries have any guidelines or approaches for rural mobility.
In MobiLR, we therefore analyse the legal and planning foundations for sustainable and location-independent mobility in rural areas. We want to create a systematic overview of guidelines, specifications and instruments at EU level and in 29 countries. We will take a closer look at five countries. We want to analyse the implementation processes and derive recommendations for action for various areas of responsibility and administrative levels.
What does the future of rural mobility look like?
Hopefully it is more inclusive, more sustainable and less dependent on motorised private transport! However, improved mobility services alone will not be enough to achieve this. Instead, we need to strengthen rural areas as residential and business locations and make them more attractive overall.
