Demand-responsive transport services in rural areas: A mixed-methods ...

Transport-related carbon emissions and a pressing need to their swift reduction calls, inter alia, for a raise of public transports share in the modal split. In rural areas, the provision of public transport is economically difficult and, more importantly, inefficient. As a form of public transport, demand-responsive transport services (DRT) react to user demand and are not bound to set times or courses. Such services seem suitable for rural areas, yet, their successful implementation appears challenging. Considering that in the EU, 29 % of citizens live rurally, and research on this matter is still sparse, this contribution (1) explains the applied, four-sequential research design, (2) exemplifies the transfer of results from qualitative to quantitative methods and (3) shows preliminary results and explored tendencies and derives first practical recommendations.