National Rural and Islands Mobility Plan (RIMP) Project
Latest News
We are excited to announce that the draft report summarising the findings from the first stage of the RIMP project is now available to review here. We welcome your feedback as it will help to shape the final report is published for wider consultation. Please e-mail your feedback to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
About the Rural and Islands Mobility Plan (RIMP) Project
The RIMP project is inspired by the fact that Scotland does not have an integrated national plan for rural and island transport, and a recognition that the development and implementation of one will create better outcomes for the people who live in these communities.
This 12 month project that runs from April 2024 to March 2025 and will produce interim and final reports that set out the framework for the development of a plan that is formally adopted by the Scottish Government.
The timing of the project aligns with the the Scottish Government's committment to develop a Rural Delivery Plan in 2026 that shows how all parts of the Government are delivering for rural Scotland across all areas of policy including transport.
Funding
Undertaking the RIMP project is only possible to funding secured from Paths for All Smarter Choices Smarter Places programme.
Project Milestones
Stage 1, April to June 2024 - Review of Scottish transport policy, strategy and planning literature published by national, regional, local and community level organisations.
Stage 2, August to November 2024 - Review of international literature related to rural and islands transport policy, strategy, and planning.
Stage 3, November 2024 to February 2025 - Study trips and stakeholder workshops to validate findings from stages 1 and 2.
Stage 4, January to March 2025 - Deveopment of Final Report and RIMP Framework for formal consultation.
Background to the Rural and Islands Mobility Plan (RIMP)
The journey towards the development of a Rural and Island Mobility Plan started in 2018 when our founder, Jenny Milne, learned about the EU funded SMARTA EU and MAMBA projects that focused on the prescribing solutions that address rural and island transport challenges.
As part of the SMARTA project, an Insights Paper was published highlighting that Latvia was the only country in the EU that had developed an integrated plan for rural transportation.
These insights inspired Jenny to ask what actions the UK and Scottish Government's were taking to develop a similar plan via the SRITC Gathering in 2020 where attendees discussed "What would you like to see in a Future Rural Mobility Strategy?"
Building on the insights gained from this workshop, in 2022, SRITC were commissioned to review the Scottish Government's National Transport Strategy 2 (NTS2) delivery plan from a rural and island perspective. Emerging from a series of stakeholder workshops were six "Big Asks" of policy makers that are presented in the Spotlight on Rural & Islands Transport Report (2022). which can be viewed here . In summary, the asks are as follows:
- 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
To progress Ask 1, stakeholder workshops were held at the SRITC Gathering 2023. and Scottish Rural and Islands Parliament 2023, producing 2 further reports which can be viewed here. and here.