Roadmap Färingsö - toward tomorrows public transport in rural areas
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | Sustainable Innovation i Sverige AB |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 1 612 552 |
| Project duration | May 2022 - September 2023 |
| Status | Completed |
| Venture | Strategic Innovation Program Drive Sweden |
Purpose and goal
Projektet Färdplan Färingsö has investigated whether the use of autonomous buses in demand responsive transport to make rural public transport more efficient is justified based on economic, social and environmental aspects. The location for the project is Färingsö, one of the Mälar Islands just outside Stockholm. The project is a preparatory step for a following full-scale system demonstration. The project´s conclusion is that there are good arguments for continuing the work and carrying out a system demonstrator in order to validate the conclusions formulated by the project.
Expected results and effects
The project shows that it is possible to replace regular buses with smaller autonomous electric buses for 5 to 10 passengers. Instead of the scheduled traffic, a trunk line is introduced, in scheduled traffic, which is fed by the small autonomous electric buses in demand-responsive traffic. With this concept, better performance is achieved economically, environmentally and in terms of service, which in the long run enables a change in behavior from private cars to public transport for rural areas.
Planned approach and implementation
The project has consisted of the parties (and representative from Ekerö municipality) who met regularly in project meetings and in thematic workshops. The current status description is based on known and available data which has been compiled and analyzed. The empirical study is based on new data from location-based activities with flyers, surveys via social media and on-site interviews. The state-of-the-art investigation is based on networks and contacts, web-based studies, news coverage and meetings with representatives from the tech side.