The role of demand responsive transport in connecting people to opportunities in less densely populated areas
Project details
Full project title: The role of demand responsive transport in connecting people to opportunities in less densely populated areas project
Sponsor: Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) on behalf of UKRI Creating Opportunities Evaluation Development Fund
Principal Investigator: Professor Kiron Chatterjee
CTS researchers:
- University of Leeds
- CoMoUK
- Transport East
- Essex County Council
- Gloucestershire County Council
- Nottinghamshire County Council
Start date: 1 May 2024
End date: 30 April 2025
Project summary
On-demand bus services (Demand Responsive Transport or DRT) are being piloted in low-density areas not served well by conventional buses. Past studies of DRT have focused on transport and financial performance. However, DRT schemes are intended to serve social and economic needs and the aim of this project is to assess DRT’s impact in unlocking educational, employment, social and other opportunities for residents in rural areas. It will focus on areas exhibiting multiple dimensions of deprivation, such as low employment rates, low income, prolonged health problems and low life expectancies.
The project has three main objectives:
- Apply an innovative, participatory methodological framework to measure the impact of public transport on life-defining economic, social and health outcomes.
- Estimate the social value of DRT schemes and bus services more generally in areas of rural deprivation and their contribution to reducing place-based inequalities.
- Inform policy in relation to the future of DRT and broader public transport services.
In three DRT operating areas in Essex, Gloucestershire, and Nottinghamshire, the project will survey and interview residents to find out whether they use the DRT, what they use it for, and the value they place on its availability to their community.