Adrian Muscat is researching a demand responsive transport system that could reduce traffic congestion and pollution. Sandy Calleja Portelli hitches a ride.
Driving along our congested roads is invariably fraught with delays, most journeys taking twice as long as they should as vehicles inch their way in a familiar stop-go-stop pattern. Every day, run-of-the-mill trips can turn into veritable treasure hunts, as drivers seek out little known alternative routes. Yet, in minutes, the shortcuts eventually become almost as busy as the main thoroughfares.
University of Malta professor Adrian Muscat was living in London almost 15 years ago when he was first came up with the idea that a means of transport somewhere between a bus and a taxi would go a long way to reduce traffic congestion and pollution.
“I put the idea on the back burner as I got tied up with other work but never shelved it completely. Now we are working on the concept of demand responsive transport systems that will give users the quality of service that is highly comparable to driving one’s private car with an ultimate aim of cutting down on our pollution levels.
“Malta’s population density is comparable to that of a normal European city and we need to have a combination of transport methods to meet the country’s needs. An underground system would not be sustainable as we do not have the high population density of a city such as London. We could improve our cycling lanes and encourage more people to walk short distances.
“Pollution is our biggest problem here. That is the drawback with having so many private cars,” says Muscat.
“We are in a Catch-22 situation: few people are likely to take up walking and cycling with the current levels of pollution and the pollution problem is not going to be alleviated unless we reduce the number of vehicles on the road.
“What we are proposing is ultimately a more efficient use of our resources. Consider the fact that a large portion of the population owns a car which they drive to work every day, leave the vehicle parked somewhere for anything between eight to 10 hours, only to drive back home and park the car overnight.”
Muscat suggests a number of informal means to lessen the congestion on our roads including car pooling, cycling, walking or using public transport at least one day a week. The latter option is not ideal as it would cause an influx of demand that our transport network will be unable to cope with in the short term.
“If everyone had to share their commute to work with at least one colleague, we would cut down our traffic congestion by 50 per cent.”
Muscat’s brainchild is Dial-a-Ride, a fully automated service that would enable users to book a ride using an app on their smartphone.
“You would request a ride from A to B using the app. The system would generate a reply giving you the estimated pick up time, journey duration, the cost for the trip and an option to accept or reject the offer. Once the offer is accepted, a car is despatched to the pick up location with the client receiving updates along the way.
“Passengers would have to be ready to leave as soon as the vehicle arrives. Users would need to be disciplined or the entire system would collapse.” A tardy passenger would keep everyone else waiting.
“We have presented this idea to the London Transport Authority. Similar services have been piloted in Genoa and Sweden but these trials have been heavily subsidised as they have all been coordinated by operators which increase the costs substantially. The system we are working on here would be completely automated, which would keep our operating costs down to a minimum.”
So how would Dial-a-Ride work in practice?
Muscat’s explanation sounds very appealing.
“The system works much like a taxi service. You book your ride and are driven door-to-door. The difference between this system and a taxi is that your vehicle is shared by other commuters. So you will not be travelling straight to your destination as the vehicle would be making detours to drop off and collect other passengers along the way.”
Wouldn’t that make the journeys take much longer than driving your own car?
“Yes it would, but unlike driving your own car, you will not need to park your car. Still, the journey would take about 30 per cent longer than driving yourself. When you take into consideration the time taken to park your vehicle and walk to your final destination, 30 per cent added journey time is very acceptable.
“My research is focused on the system’s feasibility. Would people take it up and would it be affordable? One of the biggest considerations is the size of the vehicles used. A large vehicle would minimise the cost but lengthen the commute while a smaller vehicle would mean shorter journey times but higher fares,” Muscat explains.
“We have decided on using seven-seater vehicles as the average journey would cost around €3 to €5.” Compared to owning and running a private car which is mainly used for the daily commute, the system works out cheaper over the course of a year. If we had to pay parking charges everywhere, the system being researched becomes even more affordable.”
Besides commuters, the service is also aimed at those who do not drive and are not well served by our public transport system.
“If you do not drive, making some trips by public transport is very time consuming and a taxi can be quite expensive. This system would be a great fill-in service for this portion of the population. Our calculation is that if 10 per cent of households ditch their second car in favour of this system, it would make the system financially viable.”
The service could also be attractive for smaller companies that currently have a fleet of vehicles that is underutilised because the vehicles are only used to travel to meetings. Considering that most business meetings are held in prime business areas, the time lost in searching for parking space is an expensive waste of human resources.”
What would be the environmental benefits of such a system?
“Less private cars on the road would lead to a decreased demand for parking spaces which would open up the possibility for introducing more public green spaces. Less congestion would lessen pollution levels, making walking and cycling a more viable alternative means of commuting, which would in turn lead to a more active lifestyle, an eventual drop in our obesity levels and a drop in demand for health services. You have to look at these issues in a holistic manner, as everything has a domino effect.”
So what is the next step for the demand responsive transport system?
“We have done all the research and feasibility studies so now we are looking to finance a pilot project to test the system out on the roads. This trial would need to have a number of volunteer users who will be flexible enough to make other arrangements if the system is unable to meet their request.”
Dial-a-Ride looks and sounds very promising on paper. Whether we will be booking rides via a smartphone app in the very near future remains to be seen. But I can’t help thinking that it would be a welcome difference from the current daily commute.