Future transport funding

Effective transport of people and goods in and around any region is vital. For an area like the Solent, which sits next to the water and includes a populated island, it becomes even more fundamental.

The Transportation Research Group, in the School of Engineering, has been working for the past 10 years to help develop sustainable transport, both locally and globally. One of its most recent and largest projects has been contributing directly to the City of Southampton and the Solent area through the Future Transport Zones (FTZ) programme funded by the Department for Transport (DfT), to help make journeys easier, smarter, and greener.

“The Solent Future Transport Zone provides real-world testing for experts, allowing them to work with a range of local organisations such as councils, hospitals, airports and universities to test and trial innovative ways to transport people and goods,” explained John Preston, Professor in Rail Transport.

“The Transportation Research Group has been involved in running many investigations and assessments of innovative approaches to transport across the Solent region. As these tests and trials take place, we’re conducting research, capturing data, and inviting feedback to understand whether these innovations are improving transport options and the way people travel.”

The Solent Future Transport Zone was awarded £28.8 million from the DfT in 2020, around £5 million of which is being used by the Transportation Research Group to lead on research and development of personal mobility and sustainable urban logistics.

“Through the Solent FTZ we are working in collaboration with the University of Portsmouth and Solent Transport, which is made up of Southampton City Council, Portsmouth City Council, Isle of Wight Council, and Hampshire County Council,” said John. “I am leading on the Personal Mobility theme, and for this, we are researching, developing, and testing a Mobility as a Service, or MaaS, app. This is a new superapp by which users can plan, book, and pay for journeys across all public transport modes plus cycling, walking, driving, car clubs and e-scooters in Southampton.”

Working with the MaaS provider, Trafi, and their partners the Behavioural Insights Team and Unicard, John’s team is undertaking attitudinal surveys and stated preference experiments to investigate barriers and incentives to the uptake and use of the MaaS app and Human Factor methods in terms of benchmarking and iterative inclusive design.

“We are examining interventions that stimulate travel behaviour change to reduce private car usage, making travel journeys smarter and greener within the Solent region,” said John. “We are also undertaking monitoring and evaluation to assess the extent that the FTZ programme as a whole will change travel behaviour, reduce congestion, improve air quality, tackle climate change and transform the Solent region into a better place to live and work.”

In addition to MaaS, this includes consideration of initiatives related to micro mobility, such as e-scooters, e-bikes, dynamic demand responsive transport, lift-sharing, mobility credits and local mobility hubs.

The second theme the Transportation Research Group is involved in is Sustainable Urban Freight which is being led by Tom Cherrett, Professor of Logistics and Transport Management.

Tom explained, “The University is examining the extent to which the concepts of macroconsolidation, this is where many individual deliveries from a business are combined at a regional distribution centre into one load, for delivery to a single or adjacent business customers, and micro-consolidation concepts such as the use of e-cargo bikes and foot portering, can be developed. In addition, the role of aerial drones is being assessed, particularly concerning the distribution of medical supplies on the Isle of Wight.”

Using drones for delivery has the potential to substantially reduce the time it takes to get crucial medical test results for hospital patients or deliver lifesaving medicines to remote parts of the country such as the Isle of Wight.

Working in collaboration with King’s College London, Tom’s team is developing the systems required to manage the flight paths of drones and test the types of drones best suited for making deliveries beyond the visual range of the pilot.

“Our involvement in The Solent Future Transport Zone programme is an integral part of our duty and strategy as a civic university,” said John. “Southampton and the Solent region are benefitting from the project as we work with the numerous local partners to improve the lives and environment of people across all the diverse communities our institution encompasses.”

Find out more: solent-transport.com

FROM BUGS TO BUTTERFLIES

The Transportation Research Group (TRG) has also been involved in an innovative EU-funded project, where seven city authorities in the UK and Europe are transforming parts of their neighbourhoods from being car-orientated spaces to being childfriendly and community-oriented places. Southampton is one of these.

The other partner cities involved in the project called Metamorphosis EU, which, which were chosen to represent a wide variety of demographic and location characteristics, are Graz in Austria, Meran in Italy, Munich in Germany, Tilburg in the Netherlands, Alba Iulia in Romania and Zurich in Switzerland.

Each city is working with an academic or enterprise partner to take the lead for a different strand of the project, with the overall aim of improving quality of life, and the physical and mental health of their citizens. The TRG is taking the lead on the ‘user analysis and involvement’ work package.

All seven cities have plans to implement a series of trials to encourage more ‘child-friendly neighbourhoods’, to show what can be achieved, and build on the availability of shared space, play streets, living laboratories, crystallisation points, and use of other public spaces and associated interventions.

This includes encouraging integrated planning that promotes walking and cycling and sustainable travel generally, instead of using the car. It also involves developing innovative approaches to local urban design, that engage both children and adults as stakeholders and participants in the development and building process, as well as enabling and simplifying city procedures for the planning and implementation of childfriendly neighbourhood measures and activities.

The TRG has provided a systematic review of interventions and measures that are being applied by the local case studies. In Southampton, interventions in the Old Town and Sholing neighbourhoods have included street closures and are being monitored and evaluated. In Metamorphosis Global, TRG investigated the scope for developing similar concepts in two locations in Bangladesh.

Find out more: metamorphosis-project.eu