The INCLUSION project – which is entering its final stage - is now identifying and developing business concepts and solutions of accessible and inclusive mobility for vulnerable users and prioritised areas.

Over the past two and a half years, the six INCLUSION Pilot Labs have implemented 16 measures aimed at improving the accessibility and inclusivity of transport services for a variety of vulnerable user groups.

Over the last months, INCLUSION partners had to face new challenges that were driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, which heavily impacted on everyday life and disrupted our mobility systems.

This webinar, organised in the framework of a series of POLIS webinars on “Post-lockdown mobility”, investigated how this pandemic has affected vulnerable people living in remote (sub)urban and rural areas with limited mobility services.

The Pilot Lab in Flanders region (Belgium) is focusing on improving accessibility to public transport in rural areas, enhancing the provision of innovative and cost-effective combined transport schemes based on the integration of conventional bus public transport (as a backbone) with car-pooling, shared and on-demand services (for the last mile and door-to-door trips).

In the Pilot Lab Rhein-Sieg, an ‘after’ survey was planned following the implementation of the four measures, in order to record the perception of the measures by the residents and to be able to make comparisons as to whether changes, for example in the choice of transport, had occurred as a result of the measures implemented within the framework of the project.

Like all Public Transport Authorities in EU countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Busitalia/ATAF had to face new and unexpected challenges from March 2020 onwards.

BKK Centre for Budapest Transport, as the Mobility Manager of Budapest, successfully completed two accessibility actions in Budapest pilot site of the INCLUSION project.

The COVID-19 pandemic has given us a powerful – if painful – visual of how far behind we have left our most vulnerable populations. On 23rd March, in an effort to distribute 650,000 tests, the Spanish government discovered the reality behind the death of many of its older residents: abandonment and inhumane treatment.

The mission of the Inclusivity Quotient Project is to elevate inclusive mobility solutions as assets for socioeconomic development, so they can be better financially sustained and more strategically deployed for vulnerable, marginalised and underserved populations. IQ works as an umbrella project that houses various workstreams all advancing inclusive mobility through different angles.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed existing inequities in ways that are impossible to ignore. How can we do better? We know cities need to be more equal. There is much we are still learning about the best ways to achieve that goal, including finding ways to elevate new voices. But one approach that cuts across sectors is to focus on “access” – access to jobs, access to health services, access to transport, access to green space, access to water and sanitation, access to clean air, and even access to political power. 

Limited transport options in peripheral, rural and remote areas often hinder citizens from accessing basic services, reaching jobs and participating in social activities. To improve access for rural populations, a number of countries are developing novel ways to provide economically viable yet affordable, inclusive and sustainable mobility where the market and conventional public transport struggle to provide appropriate connections.  

The INCLUSION and HiReach projects team up and invite you to their final virtual conference on 22 September 2020.

From 29 September – 1 October 2020, the European Commission is hosting its first Urban Mobility Days conference in Brussels, on the theme of “zero-emission mobility for all“.

Tuesday 29 September 2020 at 09:00
Thursday 01 October 2020 at 17:00

The 2020 edition of the European Week of Regions and Cities (#EURegionsWeek) is taking place on October 12-15 in Brussels, Belgium.

The conference takes place at Musis Stadstheater, Velperbinnensingel 10, 6811 BP Arnhem, Netherlands.