The last decades show a great increase in car use, with all its negative consequences. An increase in urban congestion can be seen as well as a decrease in parking space. All at the expense of the accessibility and livibility of the cities. At the same time, the use of urban public transport decreases every year. Apparently, public transport cannot offer the service the traveller wants. The classical urban public transport systems are having difficulties keeping their competitive position. Consequently, the use of these systems decreases. This development asks for new innovative transport concepts that combine the advantages of the car with those of public transport. This paper describes a newly developed concept for public transport that penetrates the entire urban area. It features publicly owned cars, located near users, that can be used on demand. At locations where more capacity is needed the same vehicles can operate as "road trains". (A) For the covering abstract of the conference see ITRD E206647.
Abstract