Getting Europe's elderly on the move again
With a rapidly ageing European population living for the most part in low-density areas, there is an urgent need for alternative forms to conventional transit. This calls for flexible and technologically advanced transportation solutions that meet the constantly growing demands of mobility challenges. Paratransit is a potentially attractive solution for both elderly and mobility-challenged individuals. Similar to taxi services, something the target population often cannot afford, paratransit is a flexible transit system that circumvents the problems of public transport and offers door-to-door transfer. The 'Science shop for innovative mobility solutions for mobility challenged Europeans' (Inmosion) project worked to develop the expertise and know-how needed to launch such a demand-based transit system. Project partners approached their objectives through a university-based science shop, whereby students and researchers could target communities throughout the process: from conception through deployment to maintenance. Based on a survey and analysis of the needs of older Europeans in rural and urban environments, the Inmosion partners developed from scratch a paratransit system that computes the best solutions for passengers as well as for system operators. The pilot project was successfully deployed in a municipality in northern Greece. Project partners intended for this open-source system to subsequently be made available to other communities in Europe. The progress and outcomes of the project were disseminated through the Inmosion website, workshops, conference presentations and publications.
