The attitude of potentially less mobile people towards demand responsive transport in a rural area in central Germany

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Lukas Knierim - , Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (Author)
  • Jan Christian Schlüter - , Center for Advancing Electronics Dresden (cfaed), TUD Dresden University of Technology, Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (Author)

Abstract

Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) systems are often discussed to expand public transport in rural areas, where conventional buses are often used below capacity. DRT systems can particularly improve the mobility situation for less mobile people or other people who depend on public transport and ultimately prevent them from social exclusion. This paper examines whether people who show characteristics that indicate a mobility deficit are more willing to access the DRT system EcoBus in a rural area of Germany. Using survey data from 156 respondents from households in the EcoBus service area and utilizing linear regression analysis, this study confirms that car availability harms the intended use of DRT and that physical impairment has a positive effect, as identified several times in the literature. Furthermore, the influence of age on the intended EcoBus use depends on the residence place's city size and hence on its offer of daily public services. While residents of a sub-centre of the region are significantly less willing to use the EcoBus with increasing age, there is an opposite tendency for small villages. Thus, in small inaccessible localities, the likelihood of using EcoBus increases with age, suggesting that DRT systems benefit the doubly constrained population, namely the elderly population in localities with few public services.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number103202
JournalJournal of Transport Geography
Volume2021
Issue number96
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2021
Peer-reviewedYes

Keywords

Research priority areas of TU Dresden

Keywords

  • Ageing society, Demand responsive transport, Individual factors, Rural areas, Sustainable mobility

Library keywords