The aim of the Altmarkkreis Salzwedel Reallabor (RelAiS) project is to make the existing on-call bus system in the Altmarkkreis Salzwedel district more attractive and flexible for users. In addition, the project participants want to reduce operating costs and improve the efficiency of transport operations.
The real-world laboratory at the interface between society, research and service providers.
Residents of structurally weak rural areas largely use private vehicles as a means of transport. The smaller the residential community, the more frequently the car is used for transport. The lack of use of local public transport means that local authorities with conventional local public transport services sometimes reach the limits of their financial capacity when it comes to fulfilling their transport mandate. This situation also applies to the Altmarkkreis Salzwedel in Saxony-Anhalt, a district with a large area and low population density and therefore very long journeys. However, digitalisation offers potential for development. In view of the socio-demographic structures and the ageing population in the Altmarkkreis Salzwedel, it is essential to design digitalisation in such an inclusive way that the requirements, needs and characteristics of all population groups are taken into account.
A step-by-step approach is therefore planned in which all interest groups in the Altmarkkreis Salzwedel district - such as the municipality, the district's equal opportunities officer, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the education authority - will be involved. In the first, one-year project phase, a concept for the digitalisation of the on-demand bus system is to be designed in accordance with the "Local Transport Plan 2017+" and preparatory measures for implementation and testing are to be initiated. Digitalisation of the on-demand bus system means creating platform-independent software solutions that enable the on-demand bus to be booked online and routes to be calculated flexibly. The aim is to significantly reduce the pre-booking time from the previous two hours. For the transport operator, the digital on-demand bus service should be easier to plan, schedule and bill. In order to take into account the requirements of direct users (residents of the district) and indirect users (e.g. adult education centres) in the development of the concept, the participatory combination of methods of the real-world laboratory is used. Here, "non-scientists" are involved in the research process in order to actively help shape the project. The local residents are experts for their own region and can contribute their own needs and requirements! In this way, important boundary conditions and interactions with processes, social dynamics and utilisation barriers can be recorded.
In a further funding period from 2021, the developed concept of the digitalised on-call bus system is to be implemented. New service and operating concepts will be designed and validated by SUMO using simulations. The economic, traffic-related, user-related, operational and ecological effects will be analysed using previously defined indicators, in particular indicators relating to a change in the length of the route travelled, the number of vehicles used or the occupancy rate of the vehicles.
One aim of the RelAiS project is to increase the occupancy rate of the on-call buses.
