SUNRISE (Cohésion sociale dans les zones urbaines/rurales basée sur services collectifs de mobilité innovateurs et durables) is a 24 months European project (1 June 2004 - 31 May 2006) part-financed by the INTERREG IIIC SOUTH Programme. SUNRISE aims to increase sustainable development and social cohesion in the European regions with the implementation of Demand Responsive Transport services (DRTs) in 6 urban and rural areas covering 6 European countries. DRT schemes show important advantages and benefits in several European cities and regions as innovative measures complementary to the conventional, scheduled passenger transport, serving dispersed mobility needs, either during hours of low demand, in areas of low population, or where the target users are dispersed among the general population (e.g. elderly & disabled, students, tourists, etc.). As a relevant element of a larger intermodal service chain, DRT can provide local mobility, as well as connections to other conventional forms of transport (e.g. regular bus network, railway services, etc.). SUNRISE purpose is also the diffusion of good practices and the support to the authorities for planning and setting up DRTs. Authorities could improve transport policies and increase their knowledge in managing the urban and peri-urban mobility. To reach this objectives SURNISE moves to organize training courses and personnel exchange among partners and representatives of local site administrations. The paper, after an overview of the role of DRTs in the overall collective transport chain, aims to present the investigation methodology set up for the local SUNRISE sites and the real applications developed during the project. The paper focuses on the evaluation methodology for the analysis of the different impacts (environmental, economic, technical and social). The results achieved in every local site will be common assessed comparing the different DRT site approach and objectives. Moreover a specific section will describe the evaluation methodology, the categories utilised for assessing the different impacts of the SUNRISE applications in each site and the comparative assessment through social, economic and technical indicators. In this section, the main results obtained in each site and the main conclusions on the common evaluation are provided using comparative tables in order to facilitate readers to understand the relevant SUNRISE contribution to reduce the social exclusion and to improve sustainable mobility. For the covering abstract see ITRD E135582.
Samenvatting