Resources

Sustainable Transport STEM Challenge: SRITC report for Rural Communities Fund

Discover the innovative solutions developed by SRITC to promote sustainable transport in rural areas. This report, submitted in April 2023, highlights the transformative impact of STEM education. Download the full report here and watch the inaugural STEM Transport Networking Event on our YouTube channel!

Virtual Cafe Content

February 2023

We were joined by Deirdre de Bhailís, General Manager of the Dingle Hub which is located in the south-west coast of Ireland, and has been designated as the decarbonisation zone for Co Kerry.

Transport (at 54% of the total) is the greatest single user of energy on the Peninsula and a national Sustainable Mobility Pathfinder project is underway to develop reliable, realistic, easy-to-access and affordable alternative modes of travel that will reduce high levels of private car dependency currently inherent in rural areas.

You can download a copy of Deirdre's presentation here. 

Spotlight on Rural & Islands Transport Report 2022

SRITC submitted this report to the Scottish Government's rural directorate in June 2022. The report was prepared in response to the launch of the National Transport Strategy 2 Delivery Plan (NTS2) consultation phase and contains the findings that emerged from 3 virtual workshops convened and faciliated by SRITC between March and April 2022.  

The full report can be downloaded here and concludes by presenting six "Big Asks" of the Scottish Government. 

  • Ask 1 - An Integrated Rural & Islands Mobility Plan
  • Ask 2 - A Rural and Islands Transport Innovation Fund
  • Ask 3 - A Rural & Islands Transport Leadership Group
  • Ask 4 - A Rural & Islands Transport Procurement Framework
  • Ask 5 - A Sustainable Rural Transport STEM challenge
  • Ask 6 - A Rural & Islands Open Data Framework

SOAST: Suburban-fringe 'on-demand' algorithm based shared transport: is demand responsive transport integrated with parcel delivery the viable future?

In this research published by Heriot-Watt University, Jenny Milne alongside Philip Greening, David Corne, Roderick Macdonald, and Andrew Desmond Spence, looked into combining parcel delivery with bus services. In other words, buses carrying parcels as well as passengers. This seems sensible, because if passengers and parcels are both going to the same place, then it seems efficient to use a single vehicle. However, certain facilitating systems need to be present, such as a network of ‘last-mile’ lockers where buses can drop parcels off for local distribution, and an intelligent smartphone-based booking service.

After detailed modelling, and discussion with bus and parcel companies, they found this could be highly effective, especially in rural and semi-rural areas, and in the context of on-demand bus services.

Their simulation studies showed that high coverage of rural parcel demand could be achieved with minimal impact on passenger mobility, leading to significant reduction in carbon emissions and a substantial positive impact on viability of rural and part-rural bus services.

Read the report here.

Rural and Islands Strategic Stakeholder Workshop - Report & Next Steps

Our Supporter Scottish Rural Action just published a report on the Rural Movement and Strategic Stakeholder Event that took place last November. It is a narrative of their discussions as well as an outline of the next steps in the engagement process in strengthening the rural movement in Scotland.

If you have any feedback, please get in touch with This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Scottish Transport Statistics 2021 - Key Rural Insights

The Scottish Government have published their latest report on annual transport statistics. We've created a little infographic that captures these statistics and paints a clear and compelling picture of the realities of travel in Scotland's rural and islands communities.

You can view and download the infographic here. 

Please share it widely as its insights like these that strenghten the case for further innovation and investments in rural transport. 

LinkedIn Group

To enable people from all over the world to chat about rural, islands and innovation we created a LinkedIn group called Rural and Islands Transport Innovation Group which you can join. The audience is global and a great way to share and learn.

YouTube Channel

We have created a YouTube channel to share and store the Virtual Cafes and other online events that take place:

SRITC Social Channels

With the team expanding we now have more of a presence online so please check out and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Feel free to tag us in your posts or stories and to add the hashtags #WeAreSRITC and #SRITC2022 so we can share them!

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