In search of sustainable and inclusive mobility solutions for rural areas

BACKGROUND: Despite emerging research on novel mobility solutions in urban areas, there have been few attempts to explore the relevance and sustainability of these solutions in rural contexts. Furthermore, existing research addressing rural mobility solutions typically focuses on a specific user group, such as local residents, second-home owners, or tourists. In this paper, we study the social inclusivity, economic viability, and environmental impacts of novel mobility solutions in rural contexts based on published scholarly literature. When doing so, we bring both permanent and temporary residents of rural areas under one research framework. METHODS: We used grey literature to identify and categorise novel mobility solutions, which have been applied in European rural areas and are suitable for travelling longer distances. By using six service flexibility variables, we reached four categories of novel mobility solutions: semi-flexible demand-responsive transport, flexible door-to-door demand-responsive transport, car-sharing, and ride-sharing. We analysed the social inclusivity, economic viability, and environmental impacts of those categories based on criteria and evidence identified from scholarly literature by including the perspectives of both permanent and temporary residents of rural areas. RESULTS: Our findings revealed that while single novel mobility solutions are seldom applicable for all rural travellers, strong spatial and temporal synergies exist when combining different solutions. The need for a connected and flexible set of mobility solutions sensitive to the temporal and spatial patterns of mobility needs is inevitable. Accessible and easily understandable information on routing, booking, and ticketing systems, as well as cooperation, shared values, and trust between various parties, are key success factors for sustainable rural mobility. CONCLUSION: Integration of the needs of various user groups is essential when aiming to achieve the provision of environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable mobility solutions in rural areas. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12544-022-00536-3.