This report examines how cities can manage the challenges of geographical scale and of transition to shared mobility services. It expands on two earlier studies that looked at the impact of replacing private cars in a city with shared services, which did not address the questions of implementation and of expanding these services to a wider metropolitan area. Based again on mobility data for the city of Lisbon, Portugal, this report assesses issues around the scaling up of shared mobility services to the whole of the Metropolitan area and of their stepwise introduction. It also explores how shared mobility can improve accessibility for users with impairments and analyses the impacts of these services on the use of existing high-capacity public transport and on access to jobs across the whole study area. For this study, different configurations of shared mobility solutions were simulated using advanced computer models that were fed with detailed mobility data for the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (LMA). Specific questions examined were: How do the impacts of shared mobility services on the core city and the wider metropolitan area compare? How could a phased deployment of shared mobility services be organised and what results could be expected for each phase? How would different approaches to organising the dispatcher role influence outcomes? How would a shared mobility system provide equitable access for all in an efficient way and deliver high-quality access also to citizens with disabilities? This study found that the reduction of traffic volumes, emissions and also prices as the result of a full-scale implementation of shared mobility in this metropolitan area is even more significant than for the core city itself. For example, total vehicle-kilometres in peak hours are reduced by 55% (compared to 2011) for the metropolitan area, while the reduction for the city alone was 44%. CO2 emissions are reduced by 62% for the wider agglomeration and 53% for the city. In wider metropolitan areas, new types of shared services such as Shared Taxis or Taxi-Buses can serve as feeders to existing high-capacity public transport networks such as metro or rail lines. This facilitates the introduction of shared services and increases the use of those high-capacity services and the overall positive impacts in terms of congestion reduction, more equitable access and gains in public space. Shared mobility makes access to jobs and other public services easier and more equitable. This was already demonstrated for the core city in earlier analyses; this study now finds this is also the case for the larger conurbation. While levels of accessibility differ from area to area, major improvements in access and strong reductions of inequity resulted from the introduction of shared mobility across all of them. Shared mobility also releases massive amounts of parking space. This study finds that the effect on parking spaces is roughly the same for the city centre and the LMA, with total parking space needed reduced by 95%. The remaining 5% would be primarily used as depots for the Shared Taxis and thus need to be strategically positioned, but the remaining 95% could be reallocated for other public uses. Regarding implementation, the examination of a phased pathway (starting with potentially uncontroversial measures targeting early adopters) helped to identify a minimum initial push needed to quickly achieve publicly visible results and high levels of satisfaction by the users of the shared services, as a basis for the next implementation phase aiming to achieve the full benefits of shared mobility. An alternative scenario with differentiated implementation of measures only in the core city but not the surrounding municipalities showed that in the core city implementation of the measures considered for the first phase of the deployment pathway can deliver positive results for the core city when accompanied by a scheme of partial access constraint for private cars of non-residents. The modelling results also showed that the way dispatch services for shared vehicles are organised strongly affects the overall efficiency of the scheme. With regard to shared mobility as a tool to improve accessibility for citizens with physical and cognitive disabilities, the simulations for this study indicate a small price increase per passenger-kilometre if the entire fleet of Shared Taxis serving all clients were adapted to accept wheelchairs, compared to a scenario with no service for clients with impairments. However, the resulting price is still much lower than the current equivalent price of regular taxis and even of public transport. Recommendations: Start to integrate shared mobility solutions into existing urban transport plans: Shared mobility can contribute greatly to achieving key objectives for urban mobility. With today’s technologies, shared mobility can deliver significant improvements quickly and with relatively low risk. In all indicators analysed for this study, the impacts are positive in the city core as well as in the wider metropolitan area. Leverage shared mobility to increase use of existing high-capacity public transport: High-capacity public transport services offer great value to users, but are often underutilised because of difficulties for users to reach stations in an efficient way. Linking them with demand-responsive Taxi-Buses acting as feeders improves access and increases use. The efficiency of the shared feeder services is also enhanced since they benefit from a common destination for all travellers. In order for the feeder services to operate optimally, the design of the public spaces adjacent to the metro and rail stations must be adapted. Generally, delivering better service through connecting shared mobility solutions with high-capacity public transport requires a holistic approach to planning involving all key stakeholders. Deploy shared mobility services in a phased way that maximises public acceptance: Phasing in shared mobility should be done in steps that are based on goal-oriented policy measures, delivering at each step sufficient progress on core objectives such as reducing congestion and emissions, so that an easy perception of collective benefits can be associated with a positive experience by those who shift to the shared modes. This alignment facilitates public acceptance and can have a strong influence on adoption rates. The measures for each implementation phase must focus as much on managing private car use as on providing a high-quality service to those who try the shared mobility solutions. Because urban characteristics and political environments differ for each city, the feasible deployment scenarios could be very different from those tested in this report. The scenarios described here have far-reaching impacts beyond those linked specifically to transport and mobility. Managing the transition described in this report will therefore require addressing a broader range of considerations and preparations beyond the strict transport-related measures described above. Optimise overall efficiency while assuring a healthy level of competition in the market: Market structure scenarios indicate these choices have an impact on efficiency for Shared Taxis and Taxi-Buses. The single dispatcher model resulted in the greatest efficiency gains but the exact relationship between dispatcher and operator may follow different models and these relationships should be carefully assessed in advance. The dispatcher could be organised as a public monopoly or a regulated, time-bound private concession selected through a competitive process. In order to encourage healthy competition in the market, multiple operators of shared services could be accepted and societal gains achieved through their capacity to innovate and differentiate themselves in pursuit of more clients, but routing decisions would remain the purview of the dispatcher. Limit exclusive occupancy of shared vehicles to avoid the erosion of traffic reduction and CO2 emissions benefits: Responding to exclusive occupancy requests for Shared Taxis by clients has a natural market and should be possible. However, the price difference to shared use should be calibrated to avoid large-scale exclusive occupancy of vehicles that would considerably hamper the system efficiency both in reducing traffic volumes and CO2 emissions. In a simulation with a small percentage (4.1%) of trips requesting exclusive occupancy, the loss of reductions of traffic volumes and of CO2 emissions in relation to the scenario with no exclusive trips was amplified by a factor of 1.7 (i.e. led to 6.9% loss of those reductions). Leverage the significant potential of improved territorial accessibility created by shared mobility: Shared mobility systems allow large improvements in equitable territorial accessibility. It is imperative that city planners understand the impact of shared mobility on spatial accessibility and make use of its potential to deliver equitable access. Taxi-Bus trips typically only take half the travel time compared to traditional public transport because transfers are not required (except where shared vehicles feed existing metro or rail lines) and smaller vehicles need to stop less often to fill up with passengers. This radically increases range and hence access to the number of jobs and social services, especially for citizens in areas that are poorly served by traditional public transport. City planners need to be aware of this possibility and be part of the dialogue preceding the deployment of shared mobility services. Make shared mobility services fully accessible to citizens with reduced mobility: Every citizen has a right to good access to personal or professional opportunities and transport services to reach them. For those with impairments and special mobility needs, Shared Taxis that are fully accessible, e.g. for wheelchair-bound clients, would significantly improve the range of reachable opportunities and overall quality of life. Results indicate that this benefit could be achieved with minimal impacts on operating costs. (Author/publisher)
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