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OPTIMISED CO-MODAL PASSENGER TRANSPORT FOR REDUCING CARBON EMISSIONS

Final Report Summary - COMPASS (OPTIMISED CO-MODAL PASSENGER TRANSPORT FOR REDUCING CARBON EMISSIONS)


Executive Summary:

The motivation and the general objectives of the COMPASS project are deeply rooted in the European Transport Policy (ETP) in the first decade of the 21st Century, with a look towards the new challenges of the incoming second decade of the century. In particular, three topics must be stressed:

- Challenges from the key socio-economic trends.
- Challenges from environmental concerns.
- Challenges from technological changes.

Taking this into account, the general objectives of the COMPASS project were:

- To provide an overall picture of the future travellers needs in the light of the key socio-economic trends;
- To analyse how ICT and ITS applications can meet the new demands, favouring the integration of multimodal transport solutions;
- To assess how these solutions can contribute to the de-carbonisation of transport activities.

In such a framework, the following collateral and important objectives were also addressed:

- The potentials of the ICT and ITS applications to provide behavioural data and information to improve travel surveys and fostering harmonisation;
- The validation of the ICT solutions with stakeholders rooted in the national contexts, due to the involvement in the project of TTS Italia, member of the ERTICO National Network of ITS Associations

Project Context and Objectives:

Motivation and General Objectives

The motivation and the general objectives of the COMPASS project are deeply rooted in the European Transport Policy (ETP) in the first decade of the 21st Century, with a look towards the new challenges of the incoming second decade of the century. In particular, three topics must be stressed:

• Challenges from the key socio-economic trends. The Communication from the Commission - A sustainable future for transport: Towards an integrated, technology-led and user friendly system (COM/2009/0279 final), summarising studies, stakeholders involvements and workshops in the context of the Communication on the Future on Transport, adopted by the Commission on 17th June 2009, has described the main socio-economic trends shaping the future of transport. Population ageing, that will place more emphasis on the provision of transport services involving a high level of perceived security and reliability, and which features appropriate solutions for users with reduced mobility. Migration and internal mobility, with migrants, generally young and mainly living in urban areas, which will entail more movement of people and goods. Urbanisation trends, according to which the proportion of European population residing in urban areas is projected to increase from 72% in 2007 to 84% in 2050 (United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs/Population Division (2008), World Urbanization Prospects: The 2007 Revision.). This trend, in association with the related growth of urban sprawl can be considered among the main challenges for urban transport, as it brings about greater need for individual transport modes, thereby affecting the environmental quality. In particular, congestion, that is prevalent in agglomerations and in their access routes, generates large costs in terms of delays and higher fuel consumption. Further deepening of the Single Market, and the integration of the EU with neighbouring regions (Eastern Europe, North Africa) into the world economy is also deemed to have relevant impacts on transport, through the increased mobility of workers within the Union.
• Challenges from environmental concerns. There is growing concern that the transport sector must tackle dramatic challenges in trying to mitigate its negative impact on the environment. The EU has in fact recently adopted a Climate and Energy package that sets a target of reducing GHG emissions in the EU by 20% with respect to 1990 and transport is going to play a key role in achieving this goal (COM (2011)112). But an inversion of some of the current trends will be necessary and transport itself will suffer from the effects of climate change and this will necessitate adaptation measures.
• Challenges from technological changes. The EC Directive of 7 July 2010 on the framework for the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems in the field of road transport and for interfaces with other modes of transport (Directive 2010/40/EU of 7 July 2010) has stressed the potential benefits arising from the application of information and communication technologies to the road transport sector and its interfaces with other modes of transport, in terms of significant contributions to improving environmental performance, efficiency and safety. In particular, the potential for ensuring higher levels of integration between road transport and other modes of transport has been stressed (comma 5). It is in fact widely acknowledged from EU research projects (e.g. MIRACLES, 2006) that the potential of technological changes (ICT development and ITS applications) in developing a new model of transport, which links and integrates tram/light railway systems with conventional ones, and that can offer a public transport service which better matches the needs and expectations of the modern traveller by reducing mode changes, providing better accessibility, and improving journey times. ITS applications bring significant improvements in transportation system performance, including reduced congestion and increased safety and travellers’ convenience. This however requires the optimisation and operation of the network as a single entity, whereas currently modal networks are largely separated and even within modes there is a lack of integration between countries. In particular, with regard to passenger transport, the integration of aviation with high-speed rail will be a crucial development.

Taking all this into account, the general objectives of the COMPASS project were:

• To provide an overall picture of the future travellers needs in the light of the key socio-economic trends;
• To analyse how ICT and ITS applications can meet the new demands, favouring the integration of multimodal transport solutions;
• To assess how these solutions can contribute to the de-carbonisation of transport activities.

In such a framework, the following collateral and important objectives were also addressed:

• The potentials of the ICT and ITS applications to provide behavioural data and information to improve travel surveys and fostering harmonisation;
• The validation of the ICT solutions with stakeholders rooted in the national contexts, due to the involvement in the project of TTS Italia, member of the ERTICO National Network of ITS Associations.

Scientific and Technological Objectives

The work carried out in COMPASS did not have to start from scratch, but could build on a substantial body of knowledge on co-modal and intermodal passenger transport already available from past and current projects, in particular KITE, LINK, INTERCONNECT , HERMES, CLOSER, ORIGAMI and USEmobility. From this basis, COMPASS’s specific scientific and technological objectives were:

• To identify key trends (social, economic, environmental, technological) that will affect mobility now and in the future;
• To identify the mobility needs of current and future travellers;
• To identify the potential role of ICT in promoting co-modality and data collection;
• To identify the information that would be needed from data in order properly understand mobility, to optimise a future co-modal transport system and to assess the impact of new solutions;
• To analyse existing surveys with regard to data available concerning long-distance, rural and urban travel;
• To identify solutions to improving behavioural data (from ICT or elsewhere) and needs and opportunities for harmonisation of the data collected, in particular in the various national surveys (this also includes new definitions of accessibility indicators);
• To identify and investigate ICT solutions to influence mobility patterns for long-distance, rural and urban travel towards increased co-modality;
• To develop business models that enable and promote these solutions in practice;
• To assess the potential impact of the solutions identified both on local and on European level, in particular with regard to carbon emissions;
• To derive conclusions and recommendations for national and EU transport policy and actions;
• To disseminate the findings widely amongst policy makers and other stakeholders as well as researchers and the transport industry.

Project Results:

Overall Strategy of the Workplan

COMPASS comprised eight workpackages, most consisting of two to four tasks:

• WP1 Consortium Management
• WP2 Technical Management
• WP3 Key Drivers
• WP4 Travel Surveys
• WP5 ICT Solutions
• WP6 Assessment
• WP7 Dissemination and Exploitation.

WP1, WP2 and WP7 were horizontal activities, and were on-going throughout the project. Project management comprised general coordination and management tasks as well as quality control.

WP3, which kick-started the project, identified the key drivers behind future transport developments, namely key trends, such as socio-demographic trends, traveller needs and policy needs, as well as co-modal opportunities.

WP4, which also started right at the beginning of the project, dealt with travel surveys and comprises five tasks. The first one identified which information would ideally be needed from the travel surveys, the next three what information is actually available from surveys for long-distance, rural and urban travel, and the final one identified solutions to improving behavioural data with ICT solutions.

WP5 identified and analysed ICT solutions for improving long-distance, rural and urban mobility and related business models.

Finally, WP6 provided the assessment of the identified solutions. A framework for the assessment had been developed and the effects of the solutions were identified both on local and on European level, before final conclusions could be drawn and recommendations derived.

The overall duration of COMPASS was, as scheduled, 25 months.

All of the five technical workpackages are broken down into two or more tasks, and in the following the main outcomes of each of these tasks are described.

WP3 Key Drivers

T3.1 Key Trends

Task 3.1 “Key Trends” was aimed at identifying the key drivers that influence mobility patterns across Europe and at analysing their influence on mobility trends now and in the future.

Generally, the demand for the transport sector is examined by placing the sector itself at the centre of the analysis, and investigating variables that influence the changes to mobility and transport patterns. Nevertheless it cannot be neglected that transport demand is generated by factors that are exogenous to the transport sector and that mobility rises to satisfy specific individual needs as clearly expressed by the purpose for which passenger trips are made.

The effort made by Task 3.1 was trying to overcome the boundary of consolidated transport sector research and expanding the investigation of factors potentially affecting mobility also to the different domains of reality; the objective of this widening lay not only in the need to enrich the analysis of “well-known” key drivers, but mainly in the interest of complementing the investigation with additional side aspects potentially influencing mobility that could gain increasing importance in decades to come.

The framework adopted for the analysis was based on the scanning of the social, technical, environmental and economic domains in order to provide an in-depth snapshot of the key drivers potentially affecting current and future mobility patterns. For each domain the main factors have been selected and, for each factor, the key drivers potentially affecting current and future mobility have been identified and reviewed in terms of:

- Driver description intended at providing an overview of driver’s nature, together with a summary of the existing and expected trends, when available;
- Interactions within the domain the driver belongs to, that explores the main intra-domain relationships with other drivers;
- Interactions with the remaining domains, which completes the coverage of possible relationships with the drivers of other domains;
- Impacts on mobility and transport highlighting the potential effects that the driver and its interactions has or could have on passenger demand and the related transport modes.

Results reported in D3.2 built upon a wide literature review of over 500 documents selected amongst transport research projects, scientific publications, statistic forecasts and studies not directly addressing the future of mobility, but discussing potential socio-economic transformations.

Concerning the key trends in the social, economic, environmental and technological domain that will shape future mobility, the literature research revealed that opinions about their future development vary widely and that it is in most cases hard, if not impossible, to predict their speed and their intensity. More research is needed to clearly understand the magnitude of the impacts that the key drivers, on their own or in combination with others, might have on future mobility and transport. Moreover, the analysis of future European transport scenarios should require a more holistic approach than the one traditionally used and should be widened to properly consider the complexity of the system and its interactions with all the domains of human activities.

T3.2 Traveller Needs

To meet the task objectives, a comprehensive and systematic literature review of previous and ongoing EU project findings and academic journals was performed. The initial stage of the task was the identification of key words (e.g. seamless travel, user needs/requirements etc.) which were then used to search suitable online search facilities (e.g. Science Direct, CORDIS database) as well as Edinburgh Napier University’s online library resources. This search and subsequent review led to the identification of a wide range of resources which covered the full needs of traveller groups when undertaking intermodal journeys, including more vulnerable groups, such as older and mobility-impaired travellers. This included all aspects of the journey including interchange facilities, the ‘first/last mile’, all transport modes, in relation to both ergonomic (e.g. physical layout) and psychological aspects (e.g. perceptions of comfort, convenience and effort), when accessing and using transport facilities and vehicles. The main findings of the literature review were reported in section 2 of D3.2 and are summarised below.

It can be concluded that there are 16 main user needs for short-distance intermodal journeys. These are identical to those identified for long-distance intermodal journeys, which suggests these needs are generic for all intermodal journeys, irrespective of distances involved. However, the relative importance of these users needs to each other is still not fully established, due to lack of research studies which have attempted to address this question. The relative importance attached to each user need, as well as specific attributes of these broad user requirements is also shown to be dependent on both personal (age, mobility-impairment, gender and migrant status) and situational factors (trip purpose). A summary of these key user needs are presented below, and where personal and situation factors are known to influence the relative importance of each need, this is highlighted.

Network characteristics: Users require transport services that depart and arrive at interchange points that are of sufficient frequency to meet their needs for each journey; are available that cover an area that allows them to travel to the places they want to go; are available to allow them to travel to their desired destinations that match their personal mode preferences, and; depart/arrive matched to times required by them (convenient); and available transport services run on time. For travellers making business or commuting trips fast (see journey time,) frequent and punctual services are key aspects of importance; Interchange facilities: Users require interchange facilities that are designed, managed and equipped to a sufficient standard to allow them to make required connections between different modal stages of their journey as safely, quickly and comfortably as possible; interchanges also need to be fully accessible for users. Barrier free access is the primary concern for mobility-impaired travellers, in relation to both navigating within interchanges facilities as well as alighting / disembarking from transport vehicles; Baggage handling facilities: Users require baggage handling / storage facilities to be provided that are safe, simple to use, and reliable. For some travellers, including Older / mobility-impaired people and parent travelling with young children, assistance may also be required; Door-to-door information: Users require information to be provided in formats that allow all users to fully use and understand the information provided, and for some migrants and tourists who are unfamiliar with the transport services available more detailed, clearer information is required, and presented in languages they can understand; Cost: Users require that costs involved in planning and undertaking the journey are affordable, according to their individual financial means. Cost issues are more important for travellers on low incomes. Ticketing and Tariffs: Users require simple ticketing arrangements that allow them to transfer between different modes, or same modes operated by different operators, as easily as possible, i.e. not requiring multiple tickets; Comfort: Users require transport services (vehicles) and facilities (interchange terminals) that are designed and maintained to ensure users are comfortable throughout the whole journey. Safety: Users need to feel safe when making long-distance intermodal journeys; Personal security: Users need to feel secure when accessing, and using different mode components of the intermodal journey. This aspect is important for all travellers, although is of greatest importance for woman, older / mobility-impaired and migrant groups; Journey time: Users require the total journey time involved in each intermodal journey to be as short as possible (i.e. minimal access, waiting, transfer and in-main mode vehicle/vessel time). This requirement is more important for travellers on business or commuter trips, compared to those on leisure trips; Accessibility: Users require transport terminals that are fully accessible by all feeder transport modes, as well as the vehicles that they are required to use for the main mode components of the full journey. This aspect is of greatest importance for all mobility-impaired groups; Employees: Users require (or expect) transport employees at interchanges and on-board vehicles/vessels to be able to assist them (if required), provide the correct information to them, are smartly dressed and courteous, etc. For mobility-impaired travellers it is important for employees to have sufficient training and awareness of disability-issues; Effort: Users require that the total effort (physical, cognitive and affective) they need to expend to undertake a journey is reasonable. For mobility-restricted travellers minimal effort is a key requirement for them to safely and comfortably use transport services; In-vehicle facilities: Users require (expect) services to be provided, or be available for them such as catering facilities, communication facilities and entertainment facilities. For business travellers (and some commuters) wireless access etc. will be more important, compared to those travelling for leisure purposes; Environmental concerns: Users have expectations that transport companies and operators are taking actions to minimise the environmental impact of service vehicles (i.e. using low emission vehicles, fuel etc.); Promotion of intermodality: Users need to be aware of intermodal services that are available to them and these need to be marketed in a way that is attractive to them.

There is also considerable evidence that if ‘certain’ user needs are unmet, this can prevent people from making certain journeys. However, the relationship between user requirements and modal choice decisions is complex and also dependent of the personal factors of travellers as well as their trip purpose, and prevailing conditions (service provision, costs) according to location. To fully understand this complexity, further research is needed.

T3.3 Opportunities through ICT

The Deliverable 3.1 which was the outcome of T3.3. has identified several ICT solutions with potential in favouring seamless multimodal transport journeys, which can be classified in the following six broad categories:

1. Transportation management systems, helping to plan and running efficiently the transport system;
2. Traveller information systems, in which the key characteristic is to assist the traveller with several parts of information (travel time, routes, traffic conditions, etc);
3. Smart ticketing and tolling applications, addressing new ways to get tickets and to pay for using transport services;
4. Vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) applications, which are a form of wireless cooperative interaction between vehicles and infrastructure, based on systems that can improve safety and traffic management;
5. Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) applications, allowing direct interaction between cars with the potential to increase safety and efficient infrastructure use;
6. DRT services, which provide a mechanism whereby passengers can be picked up and dropped off at their chosen locations, at a price usually closer to those of fixed route bus services than to taxis.

The identified ICT solutions and technologies have shown significant potential in favouring co-modal seamless solutions. In particular, ICT technologies are deemed to represent the key instruments to convey the relevant information to the passengers for making a seamless trip possible: from the information on timetables, delays and interconnections to the availability of smart ticketing.

Important enabling applications are represented by smart ticketing options combining tariff information of several transport modes (smart cards) and traveller information systems, informing transport users on timetables and travel time (multi-modal traveller information systems). In particular, it must be stressed that in this latter category, the real-time co-modal traveller information systems are deemed to be the most promising ICT applications, to the extent that they can take into account of the dynamic context-related event, e.g. delays, traffic interruptions, etc, updating the travel planner and favouring seamless journeys.

Concerning the opportunity of the ICT categories towards a better data collection process for passenger mobility surveys, this deliverable stresses that ICT applications are continuously evolving to meet transport data needs, using a broad range of information and telecommunications technologies to detect people, drivers, vehicles, goods, traffic and environmental conditions, and to communicate information to a variety of user groups.

Concerning the opportunities of the ICT solutions to meet the future challenges deriving from the socio-economic factors, e.g. population ageing, migration flows, urbanisation patterns, three sub-sets of drivers, relevant for ICT solutions, have been identified:

Demographic factors (population ageing). The level and composition of the population in terms of person types, with considerable variation in trip making and trip distances between persons by age, sex, economic position, income, etc is clearly one of the factors that influences transport demand. Particular attention is paid to the way trip rates change for each person category, and especially in relation to age and income dependent behaviour. From the 2012 Ageing Report : “The age structure of the EU population will dramatically change in coming decades due to the dynamics of fertility, life expectancy and migration. The overall size of the population is projected to be slightly larger in 50 years time, but much older than it is now”.

Motorisation rates. Over the past 20 years, in the European cities car ownership rates have been growing and it is likely that in the near future the car ownership rates continue to grow, even if at slower rates. It should be considered in fact that income effect and behavioural patterns and lifestyles will continue to exert their influence in increasing the rate of private motorisation rates. This trend must be interpreted in association with the population ageing. In fact, in the future older people will comprise a larger share of the driving population than in the past. Older people will wish to retain their driving licence as long as possible and therefore licence holding among older people will be more similar to licence holding among younger and middle aged people now.

Urbanisation trends. Concerning the urbanisation driver, urban growth is nowadays accompanied by urban sprawl – a relative shift in the location of activities (housing, industries, retail and other services) towards the peripheries of the urban agglomeration. This was and currently is an established trend that affects the growth of modern cities, which can be assessed by taking into account global trends in the housing, retail and business sectors, in order to understand why this phenomenon has steadily marked the development of urban areas over the last decades. Growing car ownership and the concentration of work and shopping in out-of-town locations have resulted – and may continue to result - in continuing increases in journey length for all purposes, but particularly for commuting.

WP4 Travel Surveys

T4.1 Information Needs

The result of this task was a working paper that constituted a milestone of WP4. It provided a first overview of needs of data describing travel behaviour and to match this information to potential future ICT solution to collect such data.

The main purpose of travel surveys is to collect information about the present and likely future traveller behaviour. Such information is needed to fuel assessment methods to derive present and, more importantly, future transport demand and policy elasticity. Within the framework of Task 4.1 desk research activities were carried out to clarify which information is needed for what kind of transport demand forecasting methodologies.

The working paper represented the background to COMPASS D4.2 The role of ICT in travel data collection”. A multidimensional framework described below has been used:

- The first dimension was to match which information is needed by the different stakeholder groups (indicator to stakeholder).
- The second dimension comprised the match of information to different transport demand forecast methodologies (indicator to forecast methodology).
- The third dimension was the match of the indicator list to the data collection methods (indicator to data collection methods).

This provided a clear picture which information is needed for whom and how to collect the information in an optimal and efficient way.

At the beginning of the project, information was collected which indicators are used by different transport demand forecast methods (indicator-to-forecast-methodology dimension. Eight transport demand forecast methods with different spatial and time coverage were analysed to identify the indicators they use. By doing so, the list of indicators used by the transport demand forecast methods was compiled.

Regarding the first dimension, indicator to stakeholder, several potential methods were considered to assess the needs of stakeholders. In addition, it was also considered which stakeholder groups would use or provide such data.

To provide a base to match indicators to data collection methods, especially with regard to the application of ICT, two different data collection perspectives were reviewed – one indicator based and one data collection based. Regarding the first perspective, the started was a review of European legislations about defining and/or standardising data collections. Regarding the second perspective, the starting point was the review of a study on designing a travel survey which has been carried out in Austria.

This Working Paper consists of three main sections. The first one describes how the indicators used by different data forecast methods were analysed. The second one, summarised the considerations with regard to the indicator-to-stakeholder dimension. In the third part, the result of literature and database review regarding the data collection methods is described.

T4.2 T4.3 and T4.4 Surveys for Long-Distance, Rural and Urban Travel

The result of these three tasks was deliverable D4.1. This deliverable presents an analysis of a range of data sources related to individuals’ travel behaviours and travel behaviour trends across Europe. These included National Travel Surveys, Eurostat repository data, data derived from European Commission statistical reports, UK national statistical reports, the Socialdata data repository, academic journal/report summaries, and data derived from non survey-based sources including Blue Badge Scheme holders, travel smartcards and personalised GPS tracking devices. Other potential data sources were identified (including use of online travel planning sites, border counts, ticketing sales, demand responsive transport type services data, local and regional level travel surveys), although were not included in this deliverable due to their accessibility, in terms of cost and/or language.

However, despite the ranges of data sources identified, numerous problems have been identified which currently prevent a comprehensive and holistic overview of individuals travel behaviour at a European level. Apart from the issue of accessing data, where data is available, other issues include lack of continuity within surveys, compounded with changes in the survey instruments and methods used (e.g. question changes, different indicators used), inconsistencies with results published, which is due to how data is collected, which all prevent a comprehensive overview of travel behaviour and data trends to established.

Despite these limitations, some tentative conclusions could be made regarding individuals’ travel behaviours across Europe, namely:

- General travel behaviour varies considerably between European countries, as well as at a regional and local level (e.g. urban rural) in terms of the number of trips made, distance travelled and modes used.
- The private car remains the dominant transport mode in the vast majority of European countries for both short and long-distance trips, and in the majority of countries the modal share for cars continues to grow.
- Given these high levels of car dependency in most EU countries, modal share for other transport modes is considerable lower, and echo the trends in car use, from 1995 to 2010, at an EU level:
• Bus/coaches: A 1.5% decrease in modal share;
• Rail: A 0.3% decrease in modal share;
• Ferry: A 0.2% decrease in modal share.
- In contrast (similar to car use) for some modes an increase in modal share is observed, namely:
• Air: A 1.7% increase in modal share;
• Tram/metro: A 0.1% increase in modal share.
- However, like private car modal share, modal share (and trends) for other modes varies between countries, and often at a regional and local level.
- General travel behaviour varies according to key socio-demographic factors, i.e:
• Males typically make more trips than females;
• Older people (aged 60 years and older) make fewer trips than younger people;
• People with mobility-impairments make fewer trips compared to the general population;
• Native born citizens make more trips than non-native born people.
- However, these key socio-demographic factors are often interrelated in determining travel behaviours, and also interact with other socio-demographic factors (e.g. income, household type, home location) not covered in this deliverable.

In addition to more traditional survey based data sources, the deliverable includes (where available) an overview of the potential for non-traditional data sources to facilitate travel behaviour data collection (e.g. GPS and travel smartcards):

- In relation to travel smartcards, their potential usefulness to overcoming some of the problems existing with traditional data collection methods is well documented. However, there have been only a few studies to date that have used smartcard data to examine individuals’ travel behaviour, and more studies are needed to validate the initial findings made.
- In relation to GPS data collection, despite its usefulness to enhance, in terms of accuracy, traditional data sources there have been only a limited number of ‘real life’ applications, and the majority of these studies have been conducted in the USA, and focussed solely on car trips. As such there remains a need for more European-based GPS studies, which include other non-car modes to fully appreciate the potential of GPS to facilitate travel behaviour data collection.

To conclude, whilst a range of both traditional and non-traditional data sources have been summarised in this report, a similar range of other potential data sources were also identified, although could not be included due to their inaccessibility. Accordingly, it was not possible to provide a full summary of individuals transport behaviour and travel patterns across Europe, and for this knowledge to be obtained, there are three key requirements, namely:

- Data needs to be harmonised at an EU country level, and for each transport mode. In relation to NTS’s, harmonisation of data collection is currently been investigated in the OPTIMISM Project (http://www.optimismtransport.eu/) although, despite been recognised as a limitation in their data by Eurostat and the European Commission, as yet this issue has not been addressed.
- Data needs to be made more accessible at an EU country level. As demonstrated in this deliverable, whilst potentially key data sources were identified, they could not be included due to restrictions on their availability, i.e. data is typically published only in individual countries’ native language or not in the public domain at all. This is perhaps best demonstrated by NTS’s, where only a few accessible data summaries were identified here.
- Data needs to cover all individual transport modes. Again, as illustrated in this deliverable, where data is available, such as with patronage data by Eurostat or PKM data by the European Commission, not all transport modes are included. This prevents a more holistic view of overall travel patterns and transport behaviour.

T4.5 ICT Solution and Harmonisation

In this Task, based on the analysis carried out in Task 4.1 TUW first carried out a web based survey asking about 60 transport professionals (practitioners and researchers) their subjective importance evaluation for the indicators and whether they would find any missing indicator of their interest. An extensive literature review of GPS-based and other ICT-based data collection methods and experiments as well as of the travel survey relevant aspects to the technologies identified in D3.1 was carried out. Furthermore, a brief review onto the existing travel surveys was made with several information sources, partly with a deliverable from OPTIMISM project being used.

Partners contributed to provide information about current ICT-based data collection carried out by transport operators (such as railway operators and rail infrastructure managers, airlines, air traffic controls and airport manages, road infrastructure managers, etc.) and conducted research onto the privacy and data protection issues arising in line with ICT-based travel data collection.

As a synthesis of these and the outcome from Task 4.1 TUW carried out an assessment of each relevant indicator for its extent of interests by various stakeholders, whether it is widely collected or only in some countries, its current data collection practices including methods and frequency, and future potential about data collection with ICT-based methods, with optimal data collection intervals where applicable. Finally, outlooks and recommendations were retrieved.

Collaborative work with the OPTIMISM project was made mainly through participation in the OPTIMISM workshop on Collecting and Reporting Travel Behaviour Data on 14 March 2013 and in the OPTIMISM Final Conference on 16 September 2013, both in Brussels. There, discussions and information exchanges among the researchers were made. In addition, exchanges of findings and information were made by sharing draft deliverables.

The final output of the task was deliverable D4.2 on The role of ICT in travel data collection.

WP5 ICT Solutions for Co-Modality

T5.1 T5.2 and T5.3 Solutions for Long-Distance, Rural and Urban Mobility

This task was mostly undertaken during the second period of the project. During the first period, the task contributed towards an extensive cataloguing of ICT solutions that was being prepared across the whole of the Work Package, and to the completion of specific ICT application ‘fact sheets’.

During the second period, the Handbook itself was put together, both in a paper version and online (http://81.47.175.201/compass/).

The COMPASS Handbook of ICT Solutions is a collection of 96 innovative transport solutions based on ICTs for a more efficient mobility in Europe and an enhanced traveller experience. Solutions applied to urban and metropolitan mobility, long distance passenger transport and also to areas where demand levels are low, like rural or sparsely populated regions.

To increase the number of solutions the consortium could consider for the handbook with the given resources in the budget, it was decided that fact sheets would be based mostly on already existing literature, contrasted with professional expertise of the reporters. As a result of this, text in the body of the solution fact sheets may literality cite references, which are always acknowledged and made available at the beginning of each factsheet.

The ICT solutions presented in the COMPASS Handbook were classified in the five broad categories:

1. Transportation management systems, solutions aimed at helping to plan and running efficiently the transport system.
2. Traveller information systems, in which the key characteristic is to assist the traveller with several parts of information (travel time, routes, traffic conditions, etc);
3. Smart ticketing and tolling applications, addressing new ways to get tickets and to pay for using transport services;
4. Smart vehicles and infrastructure, including ICTs aimed at improving vehicle efficiency per se and vehicle intelligence as a result of increased vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) and vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communications;
5. Demand responsive transport (DRT) and shared mobility systems, which includes transport solutions enabled by ICT solutions to set up innovative transport services adjusted to demand and allowing users to share vehicles.

The online handbook allows, in addition to the features of the paper version, visualising multimedia materials illustrating the insights of different ICT solutions (Youtube, Vimeo), accessing links and references online, and posting and rating solutions in relation to their interest.

T5.4 Business Models

Knowledge on how to make business with innovative solutions has been developed in WP5 for intelligent transport systems which have been identified in COMPASS as the representative enablers of co-modality and decarbonisation of transports.

The relevant business models have been investigated and designed by ITS and business specialists and discussed with external experts in T5.4.

The business modelling process has been anticipated by the investigation of real-world conditions of the ITS market - that shows high innovation density but still waiting to take off - and by an internal debate about the scientific approach and methodology at the beginning of the COMPASS project. Given the project objectives, and the internal and the external constraints, the ‘prototype’ configuration of the business models was selected to describe the best performing ICT applications improving co-modality and giving the most effective contribution to greenhouse gases reduction.

In order to model the business logic of ICT solutions by desktop and expert analysis, as envisaged in the project plan, TTS started the selection of external experts to be engaged in the panel supporting the analysis at the beginning of 2012. The European TTS network of automotive players, public authorities and other stakeholders was inquired for availability to participating to the business modelling process with their own experts. After the response from the network, TTS operated the selection of the best profiles for the project through an online questionnaire. At the end of 2012, the expert profiles had been evaluated and the most interesting of them selected for the COMPASS Panel on a competence basis. Supplemental experts were then included during the following months until the number of 34 experts in the Panel was reached.

The Panel was established at the end of 2012, when the online workspace was made available on the Web and all the internal and external experts could start their interaction. The analysis made available structured knowledge about the target solutions and related business aspects to the target audience, with an innovative approach to learn how to create and capture customer value in the business of co-modal transport systems.

The business models reports produced in the desk analysis were then shared with the experts for discussion and enrichment. Refinement and integration of information and evaluation proposed by the models was the output of such stage.

The business models thus developed were then included in D5.1 the Handbook of Solutions.

WP6 Assessment

T6.1 Assessment Framework

Task 6.1 had three main elements: the selection of case studies, the design of related surveys and the agreement of a framework for the common assessment of the case studies.

The first element of the selection process is the identification of ICT solutions to be applied in case studies according to the classification of solutions developed in COMPASS WP3. The six categories differentiating ICT solutions are: transportation management systems, traveller information systems, smart ticketing and tolling, vehicle-to-infrastructure, vehicle-to-vehicle and demand responsive transport services. Selection of those fields ensures that a broad range of ICTs which currently could be identified is considered. The decision to test at least one solution from each field within case studies guaranteed that all approaches to improving efficiency of transport by ITCs were present in the conclusions.

For the purpose of differentiation of possible setups in which ICTs could be used a broad range of European regions had to be checked. The process of selecting regions which ensured full social, economic and geographic coverage was based on the principle of selecting as many different region types as possible. On the other hand data availability and possibility to conduct case studies are important factors limiting possible choices. Regional differentiation for selection of case study locations has to be based on major factors which are responsible for creating regional differences. Among those factors the following most important features must be considered:

• Economic factors;
• Geographic factors;
• Culture/tourism factors.

The resulting multilevel matrix allowed for the selection of best fitting case studies (from the set proposed by project partners) which had potential to cover most ICT applications and which were “researchable” due to the partners’ knowledge, contacts and ability to collect data.

For five of the chosen case studies surveys have been conducted, these were Accessibility applications for disabled people, ITS solutions for Barcelona’s local bus network, Future interurban public transport in Warminsko-Mazurskie vovoidship, Bike sharing in Vienna and the surrounding region and Grass-root cooperative smart phone-based car sharing in Austria. Most of the surveys were designed as on-line surveys, but in the case of Barcelona face-to-face surveys were held. In the cases of the interurban public transport and the car sharing study, in addition focus groups were held to complement the results and explore some of the issues in more depth.

The third aspect in this task was the framework for the assessment of the selected case studies. It was decided in the end that the assessment of the solutions covered by the case studies would use the same assessment criteria as prepared in WP 5 (COMPASS working paper on evaluation framework) for the assessment of the solutions in the Handbook. The overall assessment criteria used through the project are therefore compatible and provide a good basis for comparisons.

T6.2 Case Studies

MKm developed two case studies. CS1 “An EU-Wide Multimodal Travel Planner: routeRANK” analysed the experience of this web routing service that addresses the entire travel route by integrating rail, road and air connections and their many multi-modal combinations. The case study gained knowledge from user behaviour data provided by routeRANK. The second case developed by MKm was CS8 “Car Sharing in Karlsruhe” which analysed long-term behaviour of car club users in Karlsruhe. The case showed that the annual mileage per user significantly decreases with the years, suggesting that car sharing users increasingly tend to switch in mode choice towards public transport and bike, at least to a higher extent than car owners.

Mcrit also developed two case studies. CS4 “ICT Solutions for Barcelona’s Local Bus Network” analysed the application of ICT solutions on the Barcelona metropolitan bus company, including the conduction of a user survey where respondents were asked about the level of awareness they had of currently available applications, and the interest of eventual new ones. CS10 “Sant Cugat Intelligent Motorway” analysed the implementation of road ICTs in a metropolitan motorway. The Sant Cugat motorway operator has traditionally pioneered the implementation of smart infrastructure equipment, with free-flow ETC systems already in the 90s, then introducing AID systems, environmental toll reductions for clean vehicles, and recently a computer based HOV recognition system.

TRI conducted two case studies as well; CS10 “LATIS: ICT Modelling in Scotland Region 2007-2027” and CS6 “Mobile Applications for Taxi Services”. CS10 utilised the existing Scotland region Integrated Land-Use and Transport model to assess the impact (in terms of carbon emissions/congestion) of ICT solutions across urban/intermediate/rural areas. CS6 reviewed taxi fare quotes mobile/online apps (e.g. HAILO) and assessed the system and user satisfaction. Stakeholder interviews were completed for the elaboration of this case study.

TUW also conducted two case studies, CS7 “Bike Sharing in Vienna and the Surrounding Region” and CS9 “Grass-Root Cooperative Smart phone-Based Car Sharing in Austria”. In CS7, a computer assisted telephone interview (CATI) was carried out to capture user responses to two different bike-sharing schemes in and around Vienna. CS9 focussed on newly-appearing grass-root cooperative car-sharing in Austria, a system mostly targeted for rural areas. CS9 was carried out with personal interviews

ISIS conducted CS2 “A Regional Multimodal Travel Planner: Marche Region of Italy”. The case study tested the capability of the regional multimodal travel planner to meet the traveller needs and to increase the potential for multi-modal and co-modal transport in a geographic context situated at an intermediate level between the urban scale and the national/international one.

ITS conducted CS3 “Accessibility Applications for Disabled People”, focused on Smartphone Travel Apps for Disabled People. The apps considered in this case study targeted disabled car drivers, disabled car passengers, disabled public transport users and disabled pedestrians. ITS participated in several meetings and workshops relating to ICT and disability to gather intelligence and test out hypotheses and findings of the research.

UG conducted CS5 “Future Interurban Public Transport in Warminsko-Mazurskie Voivodship”. This case study used a test bed approach for identification of possibilities and barriers for introduction of a selected number of ITC solutions into rural areas in Poland. It was based on transport users’ response to the proposed ICTs as recorded through qualitative and quantitative surveys.

T6.3 European Assessment

The European Assessment of ICT Solutions was analysed in COMPASS by modelling a set of alternative ITS Scenarios at EU-scale by means of the network model MOSAIC developed in the INTERCONNECT FP7 project (also applied in ORIGAMI FP7). Hypotheses for scenarios were based on the findings provided by the Local Assessment of ICT Solutions and the COMPASS Handbook of ITS Solutions.

The main hypotheses for ICT Modelling in COMPASS were based on the findings at the local scale from case studies and from knowledge gained from the analysis of ICT transport solutions in the COMPASS Handbook, quantitative modelling was then used to assess to the potential impact of ICT solutions at European scale.

In brief,

- Transport demand induction / substitution  ICT may provide with more trips, with more added value
- More efficient infrastructure plans & management  resulting on better cost-effectiveness of transport services
- Online collaborative and collective mobility  promotes increased vehicle occupancy
- Seamless travel  faster intermodal connections
- Smart vehicles  new hybrid modes collectively managed for individual use
- Increasing safety  towards zero accidents by 2050
- Increasing comfort in the travel  willingness to spend less money to save travel time
- Improved service and route planning  lower fees to be paid by passengers
- Just in time intelligent traffic management  more reliable commercial speed of transport

Based on previous considerations, the model varied and checked for sensitivity on transport costs and fees on the networks (euros), speeds (km/h), interconnection costs and times (synthesised via speeds in km/h), vehicle occupancies (occupants/vehicle) and personal time cost perceptions (analysed via variations on the value of time for different user classes, euros/hour). What was then observed was the range and magnitude of the impact at a European scale of improving ICTs on the transport field, mainly on modal split, and as a consequence, on vehicle kilometres, passenger kilometres, GHG emissions, particulates, fuel consumption.

T6.4 Conclusions and Recommendations

A first activity by COMPASS to draw added value from case studies by extend their individual findings onto a more general framework was an analysis of transferability of solutions. The objective of the transferability analysis was to inform on the potential of the experiences investigated to be applied in other contexts other than the ones described on the individual case studies as well as a basis for the discussion on the potential barriers, which might hamper the diffusion of such kind of solutions. In order to make a cross-cutting analysis, the 21 solutions analysed under the 11 COMPASS case studies have been clustered into 10 thematic groups.

The methodology for transferability analysis was developed based on the experience of other transferability approaches recently developed in European research projects INTERCONNECT, ORIGAMI and NICHE+. In the approach proposed by COMPASS three main dimensions were considered:

• The applicability of the solution;
• The interest for the solution (for travellers, operators, government);
• The feasibility of the solution (for financiers, regulators, technology suppliers and non-users).

According to this framework a common template was prepared for individual analysis of transferability which was then completed by case study leaders. Results of transferability analysis were included in D2.1 Final results and conclusions.

Based on the results of the COMPASS modelling activities by MCRIT, the next five points are to very briefly synthesise the potential impact ICTs on EU-wide transport:

• Limited ICT impacts on modal split.
• Moderate increases on long-distance vehicle kilometres on the road network.
• Vehicle higher occupancy results on much less vehicle kilometres.
• ICT may likely result in a lesser user’s willingness to pay to save time.
• ICT may likely result in an increase of Co-modality.

The final conclusions and recommendations addressed the main COMPASS research questions:

1. What are the key trends influencing mobility patterns in the future?
2. What are the traveller needs for urban, metropolitan and rural travel?
3. Can ICT solutions meet new demands and contribute to de-carbonisation?
4. Can ICT solutions improve provision of behavioural data?
5. How can the influence of ICT solutions be strengthened?

For each of these questions first of all there was a statement of the problem, then conclusions were provided and finally policy recommendations were formulated.

• Question 1 addressed four defined domains - social, technical, environmental and economic – and it is clear that they will all substantially impact on transport demand. However, in most cases it is difficult, if not impossible, to predict the scale and timing of such impacts, and further research is needed.
• Question 2 addressed the identification and analysis of key user needs for short-distance intermodal journeys. It was found that they are not substantially different from those already identified in the ORIGAMI project for long-distance travel. The relative importance of these needs depends on personal and situational factors, and more research is needed to explore this further.
• To answer question 3, the contents of the Handbook of ICT Solutions, the findings of the case studies and of the European assessment of ICT solutions through scenarios analysis had to be pulled together. The all confirmed the important role ICT has to play, and the COMPASS Handbook should be used as a reference case database by all those willing to introduce ICTs.
• The answer to question 4 was a clear positive. ICT has the potential to improve data collection significantly, although they will not be able to replace conventional surveys. A key recommendation is to set up a specialised “travel data collection association” comprising of the operators, authorities, practitioners, modellers, researchers and other relevant actors as an expert organisation that carries out travel behaviour data collection. This will eliminate the duplication of data collection activities among the various stakeholders, while it will increase the data availability at one-stop.
• For question 5, business modelling is a key instrument, but knowledge about it is limited among stakeholders. The dissemination of knowledge on ICT to enhance co-modality and decarbonise the transport sector necessarily requires explaining how these goals can be achieved in different circumstances and which business models should be adopted to realise them.

The project conclusions were presented at the Rome COMPASS final conference and later debated in a round table with expert panellists and the intervention of the scientific community present at the event. Outcomes of this discussion were included, as far as possible, in the final report of COMPASS.

WP7 Dissemination and Exploitation

T7.1 Dissemination

See separate section on dissemination.

T7.2 Exploitation

See separate section on exploitation.

Potential Impact:

Impact

At the core of the COMPASS project was the identification of technologies that will help integrate and optimise the transport system in a way which allows the best use to be made of each transport mode, i.e. according to the principle of co-modality. Each of these technologies was analysed in depth with regard to, amongst others, costs, impact on mode choice and travel time and impact on emission reduction. In the early stages of the project, the analysis of the promising ICT solutions in favouring a seamless co-modal transport system has led to the identification of ICT solutions and technologies that have significant potential for favouring co-modal seamless solutions. Important enabling applications are smart ticketing options combining tariff information of several transport modes (smart cards) and traveller information systems, informing transport users on timetables and travel time (multi-modal traveller information systems). Real-time co-modal traveller information systems are deemed to be the most promising ICT applications, to the extent that they can take into account of the dynamic context-related event, e.g. delays and traffic disruptions. Transport management systems can ensure that the existing infrastructure is used to the optimal extent. Smart vehicles and smart infrastructure will further increase the flexibility and capacity, in particular for road transport, and increase mobility for those who cannot currently use a car due to age or incapacity. For short-distance trips, the need to own a car may be reduced as the quality of public transport and information services is enhanced by ICTs. Car pooling and sharing as well as Demand Responsive Transport Services favoured by ICT applications may result in lower car ownership, particularly in cities.

The analysis has been pulled together in a Handbook that is now available on line, and the website with it will remain live for the foreseeable future. The Handbook provides a key reference source on new available technologies for everybody involved in the planning and operation of the co-modal transport system and enables better informed decision making processes.

This is further supported by the business models that are also part of the Handbook. The description of the process and methodology and of the results of business modelling were designed to produce a range of short to long term impacts. The illustration of the benefits of the selected solutions was among the purposes of business modelling in COMPASS, and the description of the elaboration process phases and of the research and design methodology add an important short-term impact on the audience of ITS decision makers in terms of awareness raising and competence building with respect to the importance of business modelling and the related techniques. The four business models described can be used as a guide to strategic transformation in organisations and will work as benchmark and to-be situations for the transport policy makers and the business community; gains of competitiveness will result from their adoption, since the models describe the innovative configurations that organisations should aspire to. By selecting a “prototype” approach for the models to illustrate the most effective business logic in creating value through a set of selected applications, COMPASS will have a potentially high positive socio-economic (mid-long term) impact in indicating and describing a “minimum set” of ICT solutions with high contribution to minimising CO2 emissions in co-modal passenger transport and easy applicability to urban, rural and long distance travelling. The choice to investigate and present the models from a business / company-neutral point of view, is also expected to enlarge and maximise the impact of the research outputs to the audience of business communities and policy makers in Europe. The SWOT analysis will also help decision makers in transport to focus on some market aspects which are not frequently explored in the application domains selected; the results will help improve the strategic evaluations of the internal and external factors influencing the competitive forces and the strategic environment of each solution.

But apart from the handbook there are still several other ways in which the COMPASS project is having an impact.

Future planning and policy making in the transport sector increasingly need to take into account the potential alternative developments of mobility patterns and traveller needs arising from the evolving dynamics outside the sector. Besides the identification of key drivers impacting on future mobility and transport, the project contributed in disclosing that still a lot of uncertainty surrounds their potential trends and that it is very hard to identify and clearly outline the dynamics of key drivers’ interactions and potential magnitude of effects. More investigation and research is needed in this respect, possibly supported by the development of innovative system-dynamics modelling tools capable of exploring the complexity of the transport system and its interactions with all the domains of human activities and to support the analysis of European alternative, long-term and wide-vision scenarios.

From the Tasks 4.1 and 4.5 which provide recommendations for future travel surveys utilising ICTs to improve database to be used by various stakeholders, expected impacts are mainly long-term with no immediate direct impact being expected. Long-term direct impacts anticipated from these are, amongst others, to serve as an “inventory” of the indicators to be collected through travel surveys, and as a guideline to design travel surveys making most of ICT-based techniques. The outcomes potentially serve as bases for future follow-up research, especially when it comes to the aspects associated with the ICT-based travel survey techniques that have not yet be known, such as over- or underrepresenting demographic groups, privacy, data protection, cyber security and data collection costs. These will, in turn, help to enrich the data availability for decision-makers, infrastructure and service operators, researchers, as well as for general public through exploitation by national and European surveyors including, but not limited to, national ministries and statistics offices as well as Eurostat.

Also the impact of case studies is expected to be high. The updated in-depth analysis of existing successful experiences in Europe is the basis for knowledge transfer among stakeholders, and the spread of best practices across Europe. The several participatory activities related to case studies, e.g. presentations at the final conference, have demonstrated the interest of several stakeholders in solutions presented by the COMPASS project.

The EU Assessment has identified areas where impacts of ICTs are more likely to be relevant than others, e.g. ICTs aimed at increasing vehicle occupation. In this sense, the exercise undertaken in COMPASS will allow in the future to target to a higher extent the effort of research activities in areas more likely to provide positive impacts for the transport sector and its environmental foot-print.

By doing all this, COMPASS has made an important contribution towards the wider objective of “Integration of passenger transport modes and travel information services” that was at the core of the call for proposals to which COMPASS responded.

Dissemination

The dissemination activities carried out during COMPASS project included:

• Preparing and updating the Dissemination and Use Plan;
• Preparing and updating the Project Leaflet;
• Preparing a shared newsletter with the OPTIMISM project;
• Setting up and maintaining the Project Website;
• Disseminating project objectives and results through dedicated on line portals;
• Giving presentations in international conferences;
• Preparing publications in international journals;
• Organising the final project conference.

COMPASS dissemination activities were mainly addressed to:

• European Commission: to provide a clear overview of the project and its results;
• Strategic/political stakeholders;
• Academic world;
• Technical and business experts;
• User community.

Stakeholders were at the centre of the project’s attention. The project team maintained a dialogue with stakeholders throughout the project’s lifetime by way of:

• Testing the market players’ and decision makers’ reaction to solutions proposed by the project;
• Organising the final dissemination conference with the main aim to bridge the gaps between practice and research.

The contribution of different stakeholders has been fundamental to enrich the project: they provided insights to proposed policy options and comment on adopted strategies and they always represented a good counterpart to discuss findings during the work of the project. Stakeholders brought concrete cases to the project and allowed a better understanding of the issues related to COMPASS.

The final project conference was held on the 13 November 2013, in Rome. Focusing on the central role of ICT for the project, the event was titled “ICT FOR CO-MODALITY: THE WAY FORWARD" and presented some of the project's key findings as well as some of the most interesting solutions found. Especially, the conference was the occasion to discuss some of the main issues related to the project with the invited stakeholders. After the event, all participants received information on the availability of the presentations of the day, which are now posted on the COMPASS website.

Exploitation

For a project of this nature, there are two types of exploitation:

• First and foremost, the project results will be exploited by policy makers and infrastructure owners and operators who will be able to make better informed decisions about the interconnections they are responsible for and how they may affect the demand for long-distance trips across the different regions within the EU;
• Secondly, the project results will be directly exploited by the COMPASS partners: for universities, the main focus will be on follow-up research and teaching, while the consultancies involved will focus on gaining a competitive advantage through enhancing and underpinning their position on the leading edge of the consultancy market. TTS Italia, as National ITS Association, will exploit the project results at national level to disseminate information on European initiatives on co-modality field. At international level, TTS Italia will do the same through the ITS Nationals Network, of which it is a member. TTS Italia has direct contacts with ERTICO that is a multi-sector, public / private partnership pursuing the development and deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems and Services (ITS).

List of Websites:

www.fp7-compass.eu

Helen Condie
Transport Research Institute
Edinburgh Napier University
Merchiston Campus
10 Colinton Road
Edinburgh EH10 5DT
UK