Rural and Islands Mobility Plan

The SRITC journey on a Rural and Island Mobility Plan (RIMP) started back in 2018 and 2019, when our founder, Jenny Milne, learnt about the SMARTA EU project which focused on rural transport.  Additionally, the MAMBA project ran at a similar time. As part of the SMARTA remit, a review was undertaken with Insights Paper highlighting that and Latvia was  the only country that had developed a plan for rural transportation.  This work inspired Jenny to ask what the UK and Scotland were doing in this field, so at the online SRITC Gathering in 2020, the attendees discussed in a workshop "What would you like to see in a Future Rural Mobility Strategy?". Some of the discussions can be watched online.

Then, in 2022, SRITC were commissioned to review the Scottish National Transport Strategy (NTS) 2 through the lens of rural and island stakeholders.  The approach was based upon the principles of Design Thinking and Co-Creation, and the findings were explored in the Spotlight on Rural & Islands Transport Report (2022).  This can be downloaded here and concludes by presenting six "Big Asks" of the Scottish Government. 

• Ask 1 - An Integrated Rural & Islands Mobility Plan (RIMP)
• 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

Naturally, the next step in the co-creation process involved progressing Ask 1, the RIMP, with a variety of stakeholders at the SRITC Gathering held in 2023. This was a hybrid event and all those attending even used lego, whether that was in person or online, to develop the RIMP.  The report, a Rural and Island Mobility Plan: The Building Blocks containing the methodology and the outcomes is available here.  If 2023 wasn't busy enough, SRITC were the curators of the Transport theme at the Scottish Rural and Islands Parliament 2023.  During the day, at a workshop and again using co-creation, the participants developed the RIMP to its third stage.  The findings of which are to be announced shortly.

This all sits in the context of a Rural Delivery Plan which was announced by the Scottish Government in Spring 2023. There is now a Ministerial Working Group, with a date of 2026 for the completion of a delivery plan.

2024...

Watch this space for developments but it is anticipated that SRITC will provide a template/toolkit to help other areas develop their own RIMP. To find out more please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..