Key outputs from the Smart Rural Transport Areas (SMARTA) project now available

The Smart Rural Transport Areas (SMARTA) project has concluded, and the key outputs of the project are now available. The SMARTA project ran for 2 years – commencing in 2018 – and has focused on rural mobility, with particular focus on rural shared mobility.

Rural public transport services in Europe are under stress due to a combination of factors, including austerity measures, demographic change, and poor connectivity in terms of infrastructure. The absence of diverse mobility services has resulted in rural areas that have become highly auto-dependent. The inevitable outcome is that those without cars are dependent on others for lifts, often meaning they have reduced possibilities to participate in society.

Since its beginning in 2018, the SMARTA project has focused on how to exploit existing mobility policies and solutions in European rural areas and explore ways to support sustainable shared mobility, interconnected with public transport. The project has aimed to provide reliable guidance to policy makers, local authorities, and practitioners to develop suitable policies and efficient operational solutions for rural mobility.

The key outputs from the project have been finalised and are now available. The following list provides an overview of the key products from the SMARTA projects, with links to access the various resources.

Key outputs:

• SMARTA Video (c. 6 minutes): Provides an overview of SMARTA project and key messages in easily-accessible visual format.
• SMARTA Brochure: Provides a readable synthesis of the SMARTA activities, good practice and main recommendations.
• SMARTA Policy Recommendations: Provides the European Commission, the European Parliament, and other relevant stakeholders and policymakers with policy recommendations for sustainable shared mobility and public transport in European rural areas.
• SMARTA Final Conference: Aims to present and disseminate the main results and outcomes achieved to different stakeholders interested in the rural mobility domain. The event was held on 10-11 December 2020 as a virtual event, under the theme “Rural Mobility Matters-Developing Smart Rural Transport Areas”.
• SMARTA Evaluation Report (link available soon): Presents the key findings of the SMARTA evaluation of 14 pilot sites (5 SMARTA pilot sites, 4 SMARTA 2 pilot sites, and 5 in-depth Good Practices).
• SMARTA Webinar series: Aims to share and discuss important issues about rural mobility with pilot sites, transport authorities, and relevant stakeholders.
• SMARTA Insight Papers: Analyses the European policies and frameworks for rural shared mobility in the EU countries.
• SMARTA Good Practices: Analyses key good practices in the rural shared mobility domain.
• SMARTA Report on rural Good Practices: Presents the key findings from the SMARTA analysis of Good Practices (GPs) in rural mobility.

Further information on the SMARTA project may be found at the following website.