Intermodal Transport Systems as a Chance to Enhance First Mile
and Last Mile Mobility of Older Adults and Persons with Disabilities
Position Paper on Action Areas for Accessible Urban and Suburban Transport
Stefan H. Ruscher
1
, Andrea Ch. Kofler
2
, Vincent Neumayer
1
and Johanna Renat
1
1
Multimodal Mobility, Products and Planning, Department Market / Customers,
Wiener Linien GmbH und Co KG, Erdbergstraße 202, 1031 Vienna, Austria
2
Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Grüental 8820 Wädenswil, Zurich, Switzerland
Keywords: Accessibility, Intermodal Mobility, Disabilities, Last Mile Transport, Independent Living.
Abstract: Accessible passenger transport and personal mobility in public transportation are essential factors of Smart
Cities. While ongoing transport research focuses on covering ‘first mile and last mile’, it lacks the
perspective of the AAL domain, enabling personal mobility for older adults and persons with disabilities.
Therefore, an investigation of the current situation of transportation systems in Vienna and Zurich,
analysing five mayor action areas was carried out. The identified issues are highlighted thus suggesting a
policy-driven approach for implementation of an accessible and intermodal transport system based on a
public transport model, which is able to tackle the first mile and last mile problem for all passengers in
general, as well as for older adults and persons with disabilities in particular.
1 INTRODUCTION
In 2015, the European Commission published the
European Accessibility Act (European Commission,
2015), aiming to harmonise the legislation of
accessible products and services. One area of
activity in the implementation of the Accessibility
Act is passenger transport services. In the context of
smart cities, and urban and suburban development,
as well as affordable and fair mobility, accessible
public transport on roads and railways are of major
interest for European cities such as Vienna and
Zurich. Furthermore, personal mobility at home as
well as in public spaces is an essential factor of
independent living.
As a matter of significant importance to transport
systems, especially public transport systems
defined systems of bundled demands for shared
vehicles (e.g. buses, trams, metros etc.) that operate
on the basis of defined schedules and defined routes,
are open for service for the general public under
clearly noted terms of use (Cerwenka et al., 2017),
and the coverage of the so-called first and last mile
(Shaheen, Guzman and Zhang, 2010). First mile and
last mile transport (FMLM transport) combines
services, which cover the distance between the
ultimate start and ultimate destination of a journey,
by bridging the distance between the last
transportation hub, like a bus or tram stop, closest to
the ultimate start or end of a journey. In many cases,
such connections are covered by motorized vehicles
like cars, scooters or motorbikes, as well as by
bicycle or by walking. Yet, the availability and
accessibility of these transportation modes for older
adults and persons with disabilities have been of
little concern to date, for both, providers as well as
policy makers. Therefore, new policymaking, as
well as the integration of new concepts and new
technologies is needed.
FMLM transport access is a matter of offering
independence and equality, and therefore, results in
a reduction in discrimination, especially in cross-
reference with mobility for older adults and persons
with disabilities. As every single switch between
transport modes in the transportation chain causes
more friction, potential hassle and higher
complexity, accessible intermodal transport demands
higher efforts for cities and public transport
providers. Research into FMLM transportation is
rare in the AAL domains. Studies providing insights
into the topic in a Smart City context stress a
preference for cycling and car sharing to cover the
200
Ruscher, S., Kofler, A., Neumayer, V. and Renat, J.
Intermodal Transport Systems as a Chance to Enhance First Mile and Last Mile Mobility of Older Adults and Persons with Disabilities.
DOI: 10.5220/0006768802000208
In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Ageing Well and e-Health (ICT4AWE 2018), pages 200-208
ISBN: 978-989-758-299-8
Copyright
c
2019 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
FMLM. The AAL domain, on the other hand, has
not yet focused on FMLM mobility issues. With all
the technological advances, facilitating an
integration process is overdue. Besides, more and
more private transit companies are starting to
develop and innovate new services in this field. Yet,
customers still face many challenges, mostly
expressed by high tariffs, which make the service
overall less attractive or only of use for selected user
groups. In addition, their service delivery excludes
user groups with special requirements arising from
age or impairment. Moreover, what is valued most,
is flexibility and individuality, and is hard to obtain
for low fares (King 2016). FMLM is a challenge
itself, and without doubt, it is even more so, when
we take into consideration the different user group
needs.
As outlined in previous research (Teles et al.,
2017), older adults as well as people with
disabilities, cognitive impairment and long-term
diseases are to be considered as equals in ongoing
AAL research. The big diversity of abilities and
limitations as well as assistive technology in usage
make FMLM transport services an even more
challenging task. In contrast, especially for these
groups, new opportunities for enhancing personal
mobility are arising. These people are increasingly
becoming used to AAL technologies and services,
which should be easy to integrate into intelligent
FMLM service logics (Giampapa et al., 2017).
In order to highlight the challenges and
potentials of affordable and accessible public
transport systems for older adults and persons with
disabilities, we will first analyse currently available
transportation services in the cities of Vienna and
Zurich. Then we will postulate and deepen five
action areas for improvement of intermodal transport
accessibility in urban and suburban areas, reflecting
on international best practice. We will conclude our
work with a proposal for implementation of
accessible intermodal transport systems as a
necessity for modern smart cities.
When working in the cross-section of AAL and
transport domains, an issue with the meaning of
“multimodal” arises. The scientific community in
the fields of AAL have investigated into multimodal
ICT products and services, which accept different
input and output modes, namely touch and speech,
and visual and audio, in order to enable efficient
system usage to a wider range of customers (Oviatt,
2003; Richter and Hellenschmidt, 2004). In contrast,
transport-oriented research refers to multimodality
as the concept of employing multiple transport
modes, such as public transport, cars, bikes and
walking, to cover daily journeys (Bertolini and le
Clercq, 2003; Litman, 2014). In order to avoid
misinterpretations, the term “intermodal mobility”,
is used henceforth, as found, for example, in Kemp,
Avelino and Bressers (2011), who describe the
interchange between transport modes during a single
journey.
2 ANALYSIS
Although the consciousness for barrier-free services
as well as the need for inclusive transport systems
has risen within recent years, barriers still exsist
when accessing the wide range of mobility services
provided in Vienna and Zurich. This section
identifies current measures and offers in both cities,
in order to define new action areas to improve
accessible FMLM mobility in future.
2.1 Vienna and Austria
Vienna public transport, the Wiener Linien has put a
high emphasis on the implementation of accessible
public transport stations and vessels. On one hand,
an easy tariff system was created, enabling all
Wiener Linien tickets to be valid for all public
transport opportunities within the city of Vienna,
without any ‘zone’ borders within. Furthermore,
Wiener Linien are a member of the transport
association VOR, which covers the region of
Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland has a unified
tariff system, applying to trains, subway, trams,
buses and selected private shuttle services
(ISTmobil, 2017) alike.
On the other hand, Wiener Linien have
implemented a list of criteria for development of
barrier-free stations and vessels, covering
requirements of persons with impaired sight, hearing
and/or immobility. This catalogue covers the
construction of stations, elevators and vessels, as
well as communication and the display of
information, assigning one of five quality levels.
These levels indicate the need for assistance, aiming
to maximize independent mobility on Wiener
Linien. Additionally, special training courses are
offered for persons with various disabilities on how
to use assistive services and navigate through the
stations safely.
Two types of car and bike sharing can be
distinguished in Vienna: the flexible one-way car
sharing, which is often referred to as “free-floating”,
and the traditional two-way “station-based” system
(Boyaci, Zografos, and Geroliminis, 2015; Shaheen,
Intermodal Transport Systems as a Chance to Enhance First Mile and Last Mile Mobility of Older Adults and Persons with Disabilities
201
Guzman and Zhang, 2010). With the traditional two-
way system, the vehicle needs to be returned to a
designated station, vehicles of the one-way sharing
system, can be picked-up or dropped-off anywhere
within a defined service area. Long-term
reservations are not possible with free-floating
systems, as they are intended for short-term
bookings and real-time availability (Boyaci et al.,
2015).
Car sharing providers offering vehicles, which
are accessible by wheelchairs, are available in two
Austrian cities, namely Graz and Marchtrenk. While
the service in Marchtrenk enables wheelchair
transport (Mobiles Marchtrenk e.V., 2017), car-
sharing in Graz even allows for persons with
disability to drive, as the throttle and brakes are
operational by hand. Reservations with both two-
way systems are possible, and vehicles must be
returned to designated pick-up locations. In contrast,
while current car sharing offers in Vienna are
available as free-floating systems as well, they do
not provide the space for wheelchair transport nor
hands-free operation.
Therefore, transport of older adults and people
with disabilities often depends on motorized
vehicles, which offer an individual scheduled
service. Specialized shuttle services within a
framework of (shared) pick-up and delivery services
play an important role in the Viennese transport
system. Taxis or transport operators provide on
demand door-to-door services, fitted to the needs of
older adults and persons with disabilities. There are
different journey providers, either supported by
health insurance providers (i.e. for medical transport
needs like a doctor’s appointment) or subsidised by
the City of Vienna (for leisure activities).
Additionally some operators like Uber offer iOS
VoiceOver, Android TalkBack and wireless braille
display compatibility within their Apps, which opens
the service to blind customers (Uber, 2017).
Moreover, all major cities, including Vienna display
barrier-free parking bays on their digital city maps,
easing the need for journey planning for tourists and
inhabitants alike. In contrast, bicycle or scooter
sharing services are not accessible in Vienna for
persons with disability to date.
The mobility mode of walking is particularly
used by young and old generations. In 2014, a
Viennese study analysed their needs, which can be
summarized in the categories safety, comfort,
cleanliness and punctuality (Ausserer et al., 2014).
The City of Vienna supports walking as a mode of
mobility with its own agency focused on pedestrian
traffic agendas. Additionally, accessible
infrastructure measures such as acoustic traffic
signals and tactile guidance systems in highly
frequented public areas are fostered (Frey, 2015),
and provided on digital city maps.
In general, the accessible intermodal mobility is
very limited in Vienna, due to accessible service
offers for older adults or persons with disability
currently being provided by public transport
operators only. Additionally, most other service
offers are not available in suburban areas, which
have a lower density of public transport.
2.2 Zurich and Switzerland
Beside the fact that in Zurich, as in most parts of
Switzerland, public transportation is very well
developed, a variety of mobility services can be
reported for the city and its neighbouring
communities. Most of these mobility services
support older adults and/or people with disabilities,
constituting on-demand services. These services are
organized either by interest groups or private
stakeholders, requiring a membership to benefit
from reduced prices, or by private taxi companies,
which have integrated such special services in their
regular portfolio.
The main weaknesses of this system are the price
of the services, and the lack of spontaneity, as
reservations have to be made well in advance. Some
of these organizations do not focus exclusively on
mobility, but also support people in doctor’s
appointments or in their shopping activities.
Therefore, the ‘wheelchair taxi’ has become a well-
recognized mode of transportation in the city. Public
transportation companies have adapted their
infrastructures or are in the process of doing so to
meet with ongoing demand. Similar to Wiener
Linien in Vienna, they offer courses on how to use
their infrastructure.
ZVV (Zurich City Lines) stresses that its slogan
“Steig ein. Komm weiter.” (“Board and Go
Further”) addresses many different user groups.
They are aware of different user needs and offer
various support services for older adults as well as
for people with visual or walking impairments.
MobilPlus, established in 2002, aims to define
measures of how to guarantee people with
impairments access to information and mobility
services (Zürcher Verkehrsverbund, 2002).
Thereafter, in 2014, the ZVV stated that by 2024 all
built infrastructure needs to be adapted in general
(Zürcher Verkehrsverbund, 2014). One key
statement is that accessible mobility only makes
sense if people can independently get on and off
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202
transport vessels indepenantly. With the exception of
the local train service, they should be able to achieve
this goal in Zurich. With the promise by 2014, i.e.
74% of all streetcar stations have been made
accessible, but only 65% of the local train service
stations.
Safe walking for older adults has become an
issue of concern in Zurich too. Fussverkehr in
particularly is engaged in training older adults not
only in how to use ticket machines, but also how to
cover walking distances, i.e. walking from home to
the grocery store safely. Moreover, both, older
adults as well as car drivers are advised on how to
act accordingly in mutually used public space, in
order to keep pedestrians safe. The organization
attempts to promote safe walking for older adults
and seeks to strengthen its awareness for the needs
of pedestrians in general (Fussverkehr, 2017).
In theStadtverkehr 2025 report, the city of
Zurich stresses the need to reduce individual
motorized traffic and to support projects and
initiatives that foster safer cycling and pedestrian
mobility. Yet, there is still a lack of adequate city
bicycle routes, which is considered one of their
biggest challenges (Stadt Zürich, 2017).
For motorized individual mobility, 220 barrier-
free parking bays are available in Zurich alone, with
over 9000 in Switzerland. An interactive platform
informs users on their availability. People living and
working in the city can make suggestions about
where there is a need for more bays.
Besides, car-pooling and car sharing have both
become very popular Switzerland. At present, three
very strong and well-known car-sharing companies
and more than ten car-pooling services are offered in
Switzerland. With adequate promotion and vehicle
accessibility, this would be the perfect offer for
people with reduced mobility.
3 ACTION AREAS
Based on the findings in Vienna and Zurich, a gap
analysis was conducted, comparing the current
situation with the optimum of an affordable,
available, accessible and fair transport system for
both customers and operators alike. During this
process, five action areas enabling accessible FMLM
transport in this optimal transport system were
identified: expansion of service areas for mobility
services, establishment of on-demand services,
improvement of service accessibility, integration of
medical shuttle services into the public transport
system, and policy making for a suitable framework.
3.1 Service Area
The first major action area is the expansion of
service areas towards suburban districts, where the
public transport service density is lower. In Vienna
for example, more than 20% of the population in the
13th, 19th and 23rd district are 64 years or older,
with the majority of inhabitants being 40 years and
older (Stadt Wien, 2016). Yet, leading bike and car
sharing services are primarily available around the
city center, where the subway is also operated. In the
outer districts, where only a few bus lines are
available, hardly any sharing opportunity can be
found. Especially these suburban areas with high a
percentage of older adults would benefit most from
the expansion of the service area for accessible
mobility services, whilst also tackling issues of
marginalisation and social isolation within this
population group, which was highlighted in previous
research (Ruscher et al., 2018).
The issue of sharing, however, requires a
suitable level of management. For free-floating
fleets to be utilised, journeys are required to be made
available within close distance of the customer
through demand prediction (car2go, 2017). Yet,
demand prediction becomes harder, as fewer
customers are using cars more infrequently, as it is
likely for older adults and persons with disabilities
in suburban areas. Even worse, station-based sharing
would suffer from low station density similar to
public transport, and the need for redistribution of
journeys between stations. Therefore, newer
innovative business models are required.
In Switzerland, the situation is slightly different.
It is less a problem of availability of service, rather
than of non-transparency of their field of activities
and tariff models. Services are rather regionalized
and bound to canton logics, instead of a unified tariff
system as in the region around Vienna. People living
in the outskirts of Zurich City might be better off
searching for a transport service in the neighbouring
community or even the canton itself than with the
cities mobility services. However, those would ask
for higher transport fares, as they need to operate
beyond their usual service area. Furthermore, there
is a challenge of integrating the various service
providers into the transportation system. Currently, a
FMLM journey might cost ten times the price of a
journey by public transport, which in comparison is
far longer. Therefore, an integration of private
operators into the regional tariff model as
demonstrated in Austria is required.
As observed in Vienna, mobility services in
Zurich usually only offer a limited service area
Intermodal Transport Systems as a Chance to Enhance First Mile and Last Mile Mobility of Older Adults and Persons with Disabilities
203
inside the city, where they operate their fleet. To
make mobility services more flexible and cheaper,
they would be required to further expand their fleet
within and beyond the city’s central boundaries.
3.2 On-demand Services
An alternative to sharing systems for the provision
of accessible and economically justifiable mobility
services would be pooling services, similar to those
offered by Uber. Setting up accessible on-demand
services in urban and suburban regions would
primarily target the needs of persons who require
assistive devices. The option to cover FMLM with
specialised pooling shuttles enhances personal
mobility, while keeping mobility itself affordable.
With the introduction of autonomous vehicles in
road traffic, further steps towards accessible
mobility will be achieved. While on the one hand,
self-driving cars enhance individual mobility of
persons who cannot drive or operate a car (Litman,
2017), space currently occupied by steering wheel,
pedals and gear stick can be freed for assistive
technology in autonomous shuttles, on the other
hand.
Yet, while car-sharing operators are already
considering conditions and preparation measures for
successful implementation of shared autonomous
cars (car2go, 2017), no evidence on the planned
provision of accessible autonomous vehicles can be
found.
3.3 Improvement of Service
Accessibility
While the ongoing activities for barrier-free public
spaces and public transport vessels are fostered in
Vienna and Zurich, other areas relevant to personal
mobility need to be improved. As already pointed
out, currently available ride sharing opportunities in
Vienna, as well as in Zurich do not use the full
potential of being accessible to older adults or
persons with disabilities.
One promising approach for improved
accessibility is currently being tested in Switzerland:
A specific car-sharing model was launched by
Europcar Switzerland and Stiftung Cerebral. In four
Swiss cities, a VW Caddy can be rented, enabling
wheelchair transportation. Currently, three stations
for renting these cars are available in Zurich. The
price is very attractive when compared to other
similar offers, and the renting service is rather
flexible. While car-sharers have already recognized
the need of automatic gear and manual control
vehicles on an international level, similar services
still need to be fostered in Austria and Switzerland.
Another option for improved flexibility can be found
in a car sharing service in Austria, offering drop-off
and pick-up of rented cars at the customer’s home
under certain conditions (Dr. Hartl Autoverleih,
2017).
Best practice from the US show that bike-sharing
systems also bare potential of enabling and
enhancing mobility for riders with disabilities. Since
2017, the City of Portland has provided an adaptive
bicycling pilot based on customer wishes, providing
a staffed-service with support for wheelchair storage
and assistance including fitting. The piloted adaptive
bike-sharing system fulfils customer wishes and
promotes cycling accessibility for everyone (Maus,
2017).
Besides physical constraints, the digital
accessibility of a transport system is another
important factor (Giampapa et al., 2017). Schreder et
al. (2012) point out that even ticket vending machine
interfaces can drastically reduce accessibility to
public transport. Though high interaction
complexity, customers are prevented from buying
tickets and therefore from using public transport.
With ongoing digitization, public transport
operators, as well as sharing services offer mobile
applications to inform customers and enable access
to service offers (Giampapa et al., 2017). Nowadays,
a wide spectrum of Apps, providing different pieces
of information and service in varying digital
accessibility levels, are available. Nevertheless,
some of these services have not taken into
consideration that people with impairments might be
potential customers.
In Vienna, Wiener Linien currently offers three
different Apps, one for public transport scheduling
information, one for ticketing, and one for
intermodal mobility. While the clear goal of
unifying these three services into one overall digital
solution called WienMobil is promising, a thorough
integration of trip planning, routing and booking for
other mobility services like car sharing is subject to
provider policies. In Zurich, ZVV also offers digital
solutions. Mobility Apps provide information on
travel routes and potential barriers at stations while
guiding the boarding process. A screen-reader
facilitates the reading of its website. The ticket
machines offer enlarged viewings, audio responses
or redirection to customer service, for assistance
with travel arrangements.
Centralising and enriching this digital
information, ticketing and booking services of all
mobility modes into a single accessible digital
solution, built on Universal Design principles
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(National Disability Authority, 2014) and the
WCAG 2.0 Guidelines (Caldwell et al., 2008) would
foster personal mobility for older adults and persons
with disabilities.
3.4 Integration of Medical Shuttle
Services
Several operators in Vienna as well as in Zurich
offer services, which are classified as medical
transport services, providing shuttle services for
various purposes in order to facilitate transport for
persons with mental and/or physical impairments.
These shuttle services operate a door-to-door service
for persons who need medical treatment while being
prevented from public transport usage, but not
necessarily dictating transport by emergency
services, e.g. due to the necessity of recumbent
transport. They offer a transport service which
enables participation in rehabilitation programmes,
or a school-and-work shuttle especially for children
and persons with mental or physical disabilities.
Different service areas of such shuttle services
are subject to different financing models, depending
on the actual need of their passengers. For medical
purposes, public health insurance companies provide
a basic service offer, which is accompanied by a so-
called prescription charge paid by the user. For
shuttle services for school pupils and employed
people “Fonds Soziales Wien”, the administration of
social services in Vienna, financially covers
operations on a local level. In Zurich too, all kinds
of interest groups offer distinct services to user
groups for which they receive reimbursements by
insurance companies or other social stakeholders.
Their service model relies on a huge portion of
shuttle services covered by in- advance planning and
scheduled transport. Only in the context of school
shuttle services, a current pooling of transport can be
observed.
On a daily basis, medical shuttle services operate
as car-pooling services, simultaneously collecting
clients, taking one-direction journeys. Especially for
school and job shuttle purposes, the efficiency of the
transport, as well as car occupancy rate, is
acceptable. Nevertheless, all these shuttle services
show no integration into the public transport
systems, neither in Vienna nor in Zurich, in order to
fulfil, if feasible and practical, coverage of the
FMLM within a multimodal transport network. All
these shuttle services present themselves as being
aimed at one specific user group, for one specific
purpose. Currently, booking and information
exchange processes are only conducted via phone or
an online application portal by private persons or by
partner entities (hospitals, schools, etc.). An
integrating control center for coordinating and
bundling such services has been decided upon, and
will be established in Vienna shortly.
Despite enabling mobility to persons with
disabilities, there is no further integration of medical
shuttle services into any other public transport
related network or intermodal transport chain.
Comparable systems though show opportunities to
improve the overall accessibility of the transport
system. As mentioned above, VOR transport
association appoints a tariff system, to which every
public transport operator is required to adapt. An
integration of medical shuttle services into this
system, accompanied by comfort surcharges, as
demonstrated by the private shuttle service ISTmobil
(ISTmobil, 2017) may guarantee transparency in
pricing and tariff policies, while raising
opportunities for technological upgrades for
customer to company communication.
Without a doubt, medical shuttle services offer
quality transport including personal assistance,
which therefore minimizes the discrimination of
passengers with impairments. Nonetheless, they bear
no parallel operational structures in door-to-door
transport, which shows considerable potential for
further efficiency gains. Through targeted staff
training, they also offer the possibility to cover
specialized transport needs, which are rarely offered
by other transport companies, and a good
understanding of their passenger’s needs.
3.5 Policy Framework
While the action areas above describe measures
affecting the transport system and operators directly,
the fifth action area, policymaking is in need of a
suitable framework for successful implementation of
an accessible transport system.
The city of Vienna defined the mission statement
“new mobility for Vienna” in 2013 and declared
availability, affordability and accessibility for
everyone as their main goals of mobility planning.
The majority of projects implemented bearing this
mission statement were related to E-Mobility,
renewable energy, as well as intermodal routing
services accessibility was only partly covered in
terms of digital integration of mobility providers
(Wiener Modellregion, 2013). As no more projects
are planned with the support of “new mobility for
Vienna” with the funding period ending in 2016,
there is currently no framework in Vienna
addressing accessibility as a main goal for mobility
Intermodal Transport Systems as a Chance to Enhance First Mile and Last Mile Mobility of Older Adults and Persons with Disabilities
205
planning. Besides, the mission statement of the
municipality’s ministry of transport regarding
innovation and technology states usability and
accessibility for sustainable forms of transport as
key drivers of future mobility (BMVIT, 2017).
As stated earlier, Zurich also has to meet certain
legal standards within the next decade. By 2024,
both the city and the trans-regional transport requires
adaptation to meet the requirements of the national
equality act. The above-described measures do
express the attempts of the city of Zurich. Besides,
more and more discussions are observed - with
respect to artificial intelligent developments - also
on the governmental side. In a most recent
governmental statement, the Swiss government
stressed that self-driving transport means a
combination of other effects of digitalization to
guarantee a more efficient and reliable FMLM
service. If this possibilities were integrated into
other service models e.g. the car-sharing model, it
would be an asset for all parties involved. In its
evaluation, the government also assumes that the
boundaries between individual and public
transportation might cease to exist. However, this
would also ask for new concepts in the public
transportation sector (Auto-Mobilität, 2016).
4 CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion, it can be argued that two different
actions need to be fostered by both policies, as well
as utilizing research activities. First, existing logics,
services and initiatives need to be examined more
closely from the AAL and independent living
perspective. Second, new technologies, with that
new service logics (or even transport ecosystems)
would improve the FMLM mobility of older adults
and people with disabilities.
Let us first focus on the five action areas
discussed earlier. These five action areas for
accessible intermodal transport are key to personal
mobility, a solution for the FMLM problem, and
independent living for older adults and persons with
disabilities, who have been postulated to be of
utmost importance. When harmonizing these areas, a
clear goal for future smart cities can be described:
governments will be required to produce policies,
which foster accessible intermodal transport, based
on public transport, and enhanced by on-demand
services. With sufficient policies and incentives,
accessible service offers can be established and
integrated into public transport systems and tariff
models, in order to maximize personal mobility of
older adults and persons with disabilities. By
additionally offering procurement for specific
service areas, and enabling a unified open platform
for booking, cities will enable on-demand shuttles,
which are specialised for the needs of older adults
and persons with disabilities. This would improve
the FMLM mobility especially for those living in
suburban parts of the city, but also for those living in
the city centre.
The proposed approach fits well with smart city
goals, like those of the City of Vienna, enabling
available, affordable and accessible mobility for all
citizens. In order to implement a sufficient
intermodal transport system, public transportation is
accepted as being the essential backbone of urban
mobility as well as the perfect operator of digital and
intermodal mobility solutions (Jonuschat, Stephan
and Schelewsky, 2015). Therefore, public transport
operators would also be the most relevant
stakeholder in the implementation of an accessible
transport system, acting as a paragon and a lever at
the same time. By integrating scheduled and on-
demand, station-based and free-floating service
offers into their existing transport network.
This consequently leads to the second
observation stressed above. With their mission to
provide mobility instead of maximising profit,
public transport operators can foster a unified and
impartial integration of services into an
interoperable and open digital platform, to be
accessed by customers through a single user
interface, i.e. a mobile App or a responsive website.
In contrast, private, for-profit companies often tend
to ignore digital accessibility, and lack open data
(Giampapa et al., 2017). A public transport provider
offering a user interface built with respect to
Universal Design and WCAG Guidelines, would
enable all its customers, but especially older adults
and persons with disabilities to achieve independent
mobility in urban and suburban areas.
Therefore, an open and interoperable digital
system for integration of technologically ready
partners should be fostered by public authorities,
while creating incentives to enable and offer
accessible transport services. Funding opportunities
and facilitation by digitalization in the passenger
transport system will then support further
amalgamation of public transportation and on
demand services as mainly privately organized
forms of transport, solving the FMLM problem for
older adults and persons with disabilities as well.
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