Go beyond borders: a new tool for planning passenger transport services in rural and low-demand areas

Until recently, many transport providers and administrators had to use paper-based maps to set operating boundaries for their transport services. Today, however, advances in technology means that providers and administrators can benefit from digital technology (e.g. use of digital maps) to help visualise operating areas. Nevertheless, many map-based solutions do not provide the helpful data and statistics that planners may need to redesign their services so as to achieve certain targets and objectives. As part of our Flexible and Integrated Transport Services (FITS) project in the dot.rural Digital Economy Hub at Aberdeen University, we have developed a visualisation tool, which could support transport providers and administrators to redesign their services. The FITS tool has the potential to act as a planning tool to help visualise the effects of shifting operating boundaries in different directions. These effects could be quantified in terms of change in cost (or disutility) incurred by the transport provider, the potential level of demand that could be covered and the associated revenues (fares and subsidies) which could be generated for the provider. The FITS tool is currently being trialled in a transport-to-health setting in the North-East of Scotland and several case studies of the benefits to be gained by relaxing operating boundaries will be presented.