Multi-operator tool for demand responsive transport management (MultiDEPART)

The MultiDEPART project aims to develop tools for planning, managing and monitoring demand responsive traffic (DRT) solutions for public transport authorities (PTAs) and to facilitate the harmonisation and scalability of DRT services in European cities.

DRT services are gaining momentum in Europe, especially in medium and small cities and in the low-density suburbs surrounding large metropolitan areas. DRT, also known as Bus On Demand or Microtransit, enables the provision of public transport service through flexible routes and schedules, based on actual demand collected from users through digital or other communication tools. A concept widely known and exploited for many years in rural areas (mostly based on telephone calls and manual routing of services), it has a growing potential to solve accessibility in low-demand urban areas thanks to the digitisation of public transport and the massive adoption of mobile phones by many segments of the population.

The project will aim to address these challenges by:

• Defining of a common methodology and KPIs for planning, designing and monitoring a DRT service.
• Developing the simulation and decision support tools required by PTAs to plan and manage DRT services.
• Characterizing the different operational models, public-private partnership frameworks and economic models best suited to different scenarios, synthesizing best practices in each type of area.

This solution will be applied in Lisbon, Barcelona Metropolitan Area and Thessaloniki. The project is developed by a consortium of 12 partners from different European countries. The consortium brings together universities, research centres, transport operators, public authorities and industry players.

UPC participates in Task 2 A2102 – Requirements and Methodology and Task A2103 – DRT Planning Tools.

These tasks will be carried out in collaboration with inLab FIB, BIT research groups and CERTH. The BIT research group will be in charge of developing a set of compact formulas for estimating both performance and operational cost of demand, CERTH will be in charge of the development of the Python models and inLab FIB will be in charge of the implementation of the web application technology.