Due to the unique characteristics of the context, the pilot area of Split-Dalmatia County targets – within the DREAM_PACE project framework – governance and planning, digital and operational innovations in Demand Responsive Transport.
The initial idea for the Split-Dalmatia County pilot activity, based on the 2022 Croatian DRT regulatory framework favorable changes, came perfectly aligned with the Regional Bus network redesign process. This process in fact identified areas in the county that will not be covered with future fixed regional lines, thereby creating a potential for the introduction of DRT services to complement the network improving accessibility and connectivity in rural and peripheral areas of the county.
Following the methodology elaborated in DREAM_PACE, a broad range of stakeholders engaged in co-creation sessions contributed to the definition of the demo area (around the municipalities of Dugopolje, Trilj, and Dicmo), and alternative service development scenarios have been discussed according to citizens’ mobility needs.
The demo focuses on the implementation of a first of a kind demand-responsive service in Croatia, to be scaled up in different rural and sparsely populated areas, whose contracting will be performed according to a DRT-as-a-Service schemes, where transport operators and digital platform providers are expected to partner and provide joint solutions.
The implemented service will be monitored, assessed and fine-tuned, in order to provide lessons-learnt for the future service expansions to other areas in the Split-Dalmatia County. DRT in the future will be integrated in the transport network complementing the regional bus services, contributing to develop seamless sustainable transit across wider territories, providing sustainable alternative to the personal car use.
The outcomes of the pilot activity in Split-Dalmatia will also contribute to the integration of DRT solutions within the SUMP approach, and to the definition of the DRT 3.0 Strategy co-designed by the DREAM_PACE project partnership.
The figures are about i) Exemplary map used during the co-creation process and ii) Rural and peripheral areas in Croatia, where DRT will be implemented