The case for Shared Demand Responsive Transport

The University of Malta’s Institute for Climate Change and Sustainable Development was the recipient of a grant from the Vodafone Malta Foundation Connecting for Good 2015 programme.

The project aimed at developing and testing the technology for a Shared Demand Responsive Transport system at the University of Malta. The team made up of Prof. Maria Attard, Prof. Adrian Muscat, Michael Camilleri and Nicolette Formosa developed the backend system, smartphone app and the in-vehicle terminal software to test the provision of ondemand transport.

A series of trials were undertaken to experiment the effectiveness of the system in terms of technology and price. The results are very encouraging and suggest a potential for these services to be feasible in situations where there are high demands for travel within a limited geographic space.

The University of Malta Msida campus was specifically chosen as a case study because it has one of the highest daytime population densities in the islands, with a high percentage of trips distributed around neighbouring towns and villages.

A shared on-demand responsive transport service was therefore found to be effective. This technology aims to encourage a modal shift from car use, provide better quality of life for the university population, reduce congestion and cruising and therefore lead to the improvement of local air quality.

The Institute has now completed the project and has presented the final report to the Vodafone Malta Foundation while presenting the results of the project to the University rector and Transport Malta.

More information about the project can be found at http://www.um.edu.mt/iccsd/proj ects/demandresponsivetransport