ANALYZING AND ASSESSING THE RELEVANCE OF LAST-MILE-LINKS FOR

RAILWAY TRIPS

Dipl.-Ing. Dr. techn. Harald FREYResearch Center of Transport Planning and Traffic Engineering

Institute of Transportation Vienna University of Technology

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Part of the project „Last mile link“

The goal of the LML project (last mile link) is the development of a special mobility service to close the link on a travel with public means of transportation between the final station and the destination. The second goal is to serve a service for local mobility at the travel destination.

70% of all car travelers say the reduced mobility at the final destination without an own car is an essential decision criteria not to take public means of transportation for a holiday trip.

The LML project will develop a general mobility system including a business concept, the advancement of electronic systems for reservation and positioning (e.g. for mobile phones) and a vehicle concept. The developed system will be analyzed regarding to the cost effectiveness and customer’s satisfaction.

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• Coverage “last mile” biggest obstacle in the mobility chain• structural conditions of this part of the route affect mode choice of whole journey. • Further restrictions especially for tourists (& business travellers) arise concerning luggage transport and the lack of knowledge of timetables and surroundings

• What boundary conditions of the mobility system can contribute to reduce such barriers?• conclusions for the reorganization of mobility in tourist regions in order to raise the share of rail tourists.

Method:Subjective criteria for the mode choice of 1.200 rail passengers were queried, and the marginal conditions of three selected tourist regions were compared with the mobility behaviour at arrival, stay and departure.

The „Last-mile“

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Decision – relevant:

• road and rail infrastructure (attractiveness) – interaction• variety and convenience of public transport services (including processing of reservation, payment, etc. for the various elements of the travel chain)• mobility-related information and link with information on objectives / attractions • type of pooling of transport services with other tourism services

Source: Planersocietät (2003)

Mobility chain

14.10.2009

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

PMT PT

resis

tan

ce

(m

in)

costs

departure time

in-vehicle time

waiting time

access time

Completley different conditions for PT and PMT

Car vs. public transport

Car, Private motorized traffic Public transport

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Analyzing the changes in tourist mobility behaviour

Only with a serious view on the changes in the (structural) boundary conditions (its causes) strengthening of rail is possible.

There are no so-called "mobility needs". This reflects a lack of satisfaction of other needs (eg rest and recreation, sports, etc. ...)

Changes in the means of transportation for holidays in Germany between the years 1954 and 1989.

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• The construction of car infrastructure in the last 60 years has changed the traffic behaviour enormously [1] [2] [3].

• Especially for non day-to-day trips like holiday trips or free time trips on the weekend public transport lost a lot of share compared to other modes [4].

• The infrastructure for car traffic damaged the environment of sensitive areas and generated a lot of negative effects paid by the society [2]. • The infrastructure of railways was (is) weakened by cutting of branch lines (still done in Austria) which affects the accessibility of several regions. • The processes of urban sprawl due to the increasing speed in motorised transport reduced the chances of public transport, particularly the railway system, even further [3].

Changes in the boundary conditions

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• Information as a command variable in transportation• Affects mode choice as a function of the attractors• Soft facts: for example www.tourenautofrei.at/, green tourism, etc, ...• Hard facts: structural conditions (car-free tourism destinations, pedestrian area, etc.) vs. Car availability

Relevance of Information

Source: Planersocietät (2003)

PT-arrival

PMT-arrival

Same day day before over the week during month half year earlier

Even if guests are made aware when booking through intensive information on the (good) public transport accessibility of their destination it can be assumed that a non-existent public transport use experience exclude the possibility of usage PT. (Source: Planersocietät, 2003)

Only in combination and clear prioritization a modal shift to public transport is possible (reduce capacity for motorized traffic and simultaneously "warning" from congestions, etc.)

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Examples for an area wide last-mile linkage with public transport

•On site visitors without a car should have concrete benefits, for example, Rail and bus stops located closer to the target (bus stops closer to the destination than car parking spaces)•Car free areas• etc

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13.4% of Austrian citizens used the railway for their holiday trips within Austria, compared to 5.8% for foreign country trips in 2008 . Less than 10% used the railway for overall tourist trips [5].

The mode choice is influenced by:

•local/regional mobility services (hiking and ski-buses, valley bus concepts, etc.) and accompanying measures (car-free townships, collecting parking area) •mobility infrastructure•linkage (Railway station, connection to busses, pick-up services, etc.)•information (e.g. about local mobility services) •frequency of changing means of transport•luggage transport supply•information about real costs of travelling •measurements for sensitization

Situation

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Mobility behaviour

Need to change

Transportation of luggage

Large distance from station todestination

Causes for behaviour (car-user)

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Means of transportation – specific groups

Survey of mobility behaviour of alpinists and hikers in the Austrian alps (2005/2006)

In Switzerland, 45% of the mountain climbers use public transport, almost three times higher than in Austria(Muharet al., 2008).

Means of transportations for arrival Means of transportations used in the region

Car85%

Car59%

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Different typologies regarding different mobility offers and traffic calming measurements(Source: Schindler 1999)

1. Eco-Conscious· 23,4%· prefers arrival by PT· sets not so much value on PT on site

2. price-sensitive PT suppporter· 35,1%· locally PT offers are very important·wants pick up/last-mile service· very price-sensitive

3. car-freaks· 16,1%· arrival by car· no on site PT use

4. price-sensitive · 25,4%· especially no cost increase· -> free of costs PT

Between the groups no differences in age and profession, children, net income were found.

public transport supporters are rather long-term guests and that both public transport supporters and the price-sensitives can be inspired to switch. [Source: Schindler,1999]

Milieu studies

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Car-free mobility (Germany)• About one-quarter of households living without cars • in large cities with over 500,000 inhabitants, • 30-40% one in three households is car-free • these are rather young and older people, rather Singles• high satisfaction with the car-free (75-90%) • Deficits seen in the leisure traffic • one third of car-free households voluntarily disclaimed (higher income and education) Source: Schlaffer 2002

Milieu studies

If the quality of the last-mile linkage is improved the public transport system in the region can be encouraged. 78% of the respondents could imagine to use public transport to reach their destination.

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Criteria Werfenweng Attersee Wachau

Soft-mobility as an issue in the regional tourism

++ + +

Tourism intensity + + ++

Amount of same-day visitors - + ++

Arrival by car ++ ++ +

Arrival rail/bus ++ + -

Subjective criteria for the mode choice of 1.200 rail passengers between Vienna, Salzburg and Bischofshofen (Salzburg region) were queried and the conditions of three selected tourist regions were compared with the mobility behaviour at arrival, stay and departure. The survey was done in two regions (Attersee and Wachau) and in Werfenweng, a soft-tourist-mobility best practice township.

Survey

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• choice of transportation • Questions on criteria the people based their decision on (about the mode of transport to/from the destination)• differentiation between primary means of transport (for the longest part of the trip) and the last mile to the destination. respondents were asked to evaluate the transport connection based on subjective criteria (school grade system) and to give information about the (subjective) accessibility for certain means of transportation. • Relevant questions regarding the improvement of mobility at the location of the vacation or business trip were asked. respondents should rank predefined criteria in the order of importance.

Survey

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2.1

2.6

2.0

2.8

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

luggage change trains local mobility cheaper

mea

n v

alu

e

If you have chosen the car for travelling -why did you not use bus or train? (mean value of the priorities, 1=most important to 4=no importance)

The possibilities of local mobility (besides the transport of luggage) were the main reason why people have chosen their car and did not travel with public transport.

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2.82.9

2.2

3.23.1

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

no car ownership/availableness

environmental aspects

more comfortable faster cheaper

mea

n v

alu

e

If you have chosen train or bus for travelling -why did you not use car? (mean value of the priorities, 1=most important to 4=no importance)

For those tourists who travel by train the comfort criteria is most relevant

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5.1

4.0

2.3

4.3

3.43.6

5.3 5.2

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

rental bikes electric car (Rental)

free ticket for PT

Rent-a-car/Carsharing

shuttle service from/to railway station

more offers of PT in the

region

other electric

vehicles (e-scooter, e-bikes, etc.)

shuttle service

to holiday destination

mea

n v

alu

e

How do you think the mobility can be improved at the location of your vacation or business?

(mean value of the priorities. 1 = most important to 8 = least important).

A shuttle service from or to the railway station and a good public transport system in the holiday region is (besides free tickets for public transport) important.

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47.1

5.9

2.0

43.1

2.0

32.7

16.4

5.5

43.6

1.8

31.1

7.5 6.3

37.1

17.9

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

40.0

45.0

50.0

pedestrian cycling public transport car other (taxi, cable car, etc.)

sha

re i

n %

Means of transportation for regional activities

Attersee Wachau Werfenweng

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0102030405060708090100

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

in %

Distance in km

Estimation of the average distance to the activities

Attersee Wachau Werfenweng

Example from the mobility log

Other indicators: duration of the activities, dartizipation with other persons, means of transportation, etc.

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Car-free communities (e.g. Zermatt in Switzerland) show how efficient and sustainable mobility of tourists can be locally achieved. The town centre is closed for cars and people have to park their cars at a collecting parking area outside. People who arrive by train have the same or even better conditions to manage the last mile to their destination, if the station is nearby the town centre. Electric vehicles take the people to their final destination [12].

Car-free communities

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•A comparison of capabilities of car-free respectively so called soft-mobil touristic offerings shows that at least 20% of tourists could be easily reached [11].

•Not the accessibility of the community is the main important issue for holiday-makers but the quality of nature and the possibilities of recovery or other activities [5].

•The local organisation of the motorized vehicles affects the means of transportation onsite and has a significant influence on the life quality for the inhabitants of tourist communities as well as the quality of holidays for tourists.

•Werfenweng in Austria shows approaches for an organisation of local mobility without direct railway accessibility.

• Car-free townships show that people adopt their behaviour under consideration of local boundary conditions. An intelligent organization of the motorised individual traffic enhances the chances for public transport and manages the problem of the last-mile link.

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[1] Environmental Balance of Transport Austria 1950-1996, Data Handbook, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Youth and Family Affairs, Vienna, 1997[2] Verkehr in Zahlen Österreich - Ausgabe 2007, Bundesministerium für Verkehr, Innovation und Technologie, Vienna, 2007[3] H. Knoflacher: Grundlagen der Verkehrs- und Siedlungsplanung: Verkehrsplanung, Verlag Böhlau, 2007[4] Verkehrsclub Österreich 1/1994, Wege zum Autofreien Tourismus, Wien, 1994[5] Statistik Austria, Urlaubs- und Geschäftsreisen 2008, Wien, 2008[6] Muhar A., Schauppenlehner T., Brandenburg C., Arnberger A., Trends- und Handlungsbedarf im Sommer-Bergtourismus, in OeAV-Dokumente Nr. 5, Aktivierungsprogramm umweltfreundliche Anreise in die Berge, Innsbruck, 2008[7] http://www.vmobil.at/[8] Forschungsforum 3/95. Autofreier Tourismus in Österreich. Das Tälerbusprojekt Lungau, Murau, Nockgebiet – Ein innovatives Modell, 1995[9] Planersocietät, Ergebnisse der Besucherbefragung im Landkreis Wernigerode unter Berücksichtigung einer freizeitmobilitätsstilbasierten Typologie Bericht für das Projekt MobiHarz - Mobilitätsmanagement und – service für einen umweltfreundlichen Ausflugs- und Kurzurlaubsverkehr, 2003[10] Umweltbundesamt Österreich: Erreichbarkeiten alpiner Tourismusstandorte mit dem öffentlichen Verkehr, Wien, 2009[11] Ch. Schindler (1998), Chancen sanfter Mobilität in Österreich – die Akzeptanz von Verkehrsberuhigungsmaßnahmen, ÖGAF Tourismus Memo, 1999[12] http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zermatt

References

Thank you for attention!

contact:

Harald Frey

Phone: +43 (1) 588 01-23117

Fax: +43 (1) 588 01-23199

Email: harald.frey@tuwien.ac.at

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