Just access in rural areas and small towns

The focus of the project is how the transport policy goals can be achieved in rural areas to ensure good accessibility.

The challenge that the project focuses on is to offer a transport system that both contributes to reducing CO2 emissions, is socio-economically efficient and at the same time provides everyone with basic accessibility with good quality and usability throughout the country for all residents regardless of gender, age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity or functional variations.

In the feasibility study, we find that methods are needed for how people with different needs and experiences can be involved in decision-making and the development of different solutions to ensure that they correspond to actual needs in a resource-efficient way. The project carries out three case studies in three different regions. The work will be based on an intersectional perspective and is based on the Mobility Labs method.

The project will result in a) increased knowledge of transport groups' accessibility challenges and needs in rural areas b) applied and further developed method (Mobility Labs) to involve users in the development of solutions that contribute to satisfying adequate accessibility and c) measures and policy recommendations for how these needs can be better met by different actors as well as for how users can be better involved.

The two-year project (January 2022-November 2023) is carried out together by IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, VTI and Trivector .