Improve PT services for tourists on Elba

Summary

Elba Island is characterised by strong tourist flows during the summer season, which lead to the doubling of the number of people present on the island. Its proximity to the mainland encourages many tourists to come to Elba with their own car, generating traffic issues.

It was therefore deemed necessary to put into action measures aiming at reducing the use of private cars by residents and tourists, while increasing sustainable modes of transportation, in order to generate a beneficial impact on the environment, in terms of emissions, noise, illegal parking, etc., and to support models of tourism that are respectful of the islands’ natural sites. 

Implementing sustainable mobility

Since local public transport (LPT) is not used much by people in general, this project measure aimed to improve the efficiency and attractiveness of local PT services in order to encourage residents and tourists to start using the service more frequently. The ultimate goal was to make it more responsive to users’ needs and efficient and accessible, thus increasing the number of passengers per year.

New agreement with PT stakeholders

Since this measure aimed at improving the PT service both on the island and on the mainland, specifically at the departure site at the Piombino Port, Portoferraio and Rio signed an agreement with the two main PT companies of the area, Tiemme (mainland) and CTT Nord (island). This was done to enhance the quality of the service to better meet user needs and make it more attractive and accessible.

Before DESTINATIONS, the use of the PT service on the island was very limited (around 14% of its potential) and not very attractive. Now, thanks to the new covenant with the local PT companies, the latter agreed to improve their services by: introducing new bus rides to better meet students’ needs; partially renewing the fleet; installing new waiting shelters at bus stops; and developing new info-mobility tools connected with an AVM system, such as the electronic poles at bus stops and the “Teseo” App for smartphones. These tools have improved PT punctuality and attractiveness. In addition, two data collection campaigns were organised on the island in order to understand users’ satisfaction, transport habits and opinions about public transport among residents and tourists.

Information campaigns

Two information campaigns were organised by the local PT operator in 2018 and 2019 in order to disseminate news about the newest PT services and initiatives to the island’s residents.

Activation of new additional LPT services

Portoferraio and Rio successfully activated additional free LPT services during the summer and winter holiday seasons. These services provided a comfortable alternative to private cars for residents and tourists travelling to the beaches or to the narrow streets of the city centre from the interchange parking areas.
Portoferraio activated the summer mini-ferry “Chicchero”, allowing people to travel to all the main locations of the Portoferraio bay from the city centre.

Moreover, other services were offered at daytime and night time, such as the mini-cab “Apecar” and the shuttles “Cosmopoli by night” and “Shopping Bus”.
Rio started the summer shuttle “Marebus”, connecting the different municipal urban areas to the beaches for four consecutive years, and the winter shuttle “Go Bus”, allowing residents and students to reach the main points of interest of the territory.

Connection to other measures

Improvements to local public transport could not be truly successful without building connections with other measures. In Elba, these included:

• Linking in with Elba’s SUMP, which highlights the importance of enhancing PT efficiency by adopting new mobility patterns during the tourist season;
• the introduction of a tourist seasonal one-day or six-day ticket called “Elba Card”;
• the introduction of a new service that enables travel tickets to be bought via SMS;
• the use of the AVM “CELSO System”, developed by the technical partner MemEx, to gain real-time information about the LPT services.

More info

For more info, please visit the local website: https://www.elbasharing.com/trasporto-pubblico/. 

Progress

Since local public transport (LPT) is not used much by people in general, this project measure aimed to improve the efficiency and attractiveness of local PT services in order to encourage residents and tourists to start using the service more frequently. The ultimate goal was to make it more responsive to users’ needs and efficient and accessible, thus increasing the number of passengers per year.

New agreement with PT stakeholders

Since this measure aimed at improving the PT service both on the island and on the mainland, specifically at the departure site at the Piombino Port, Portoferraio and Rio signed an agreement with the two main PT companies of the area, Tiemme (mainland) and CTT Nord (island). This was done to enhance the quality of the service to better meet user needs and make it more attractive and accessible.

Before DESTINATIONS, the use of the PT service on the island was very limited (around 14% of its potential) and not very attractive. Now, thanks to the new covenant with the local PT companies, the latter agreed to improve their services by: introducing new bus rides to better meet students’ needs; partially renewing the fleet; installing new waiting shelters at bus stops; and developing new info-mobility tools connected with an AVM system, such as the electronic poles at bus stops and the “Teseo” App for smartphones. These tools have improved PT punctuality and attractiveness. In addition, two data collection campaigns were organised on the island in order to understand users’ satisfaction, transport habits and opinions about public transport among residents and tourists.

Information campaigns

Two information campaigns were organised by the local PT operator in 2018 and 2019 all over the island in order to disseminate news about the newest PT services and initiatives to the island’s residents.

Activation of new additional LPT services

Portoferraio and Rio successfully activated additional free LPT services during the summer and winter holiday seasons. These services provided a comfortable alternative to private cars for residents and tourists travelling to the beaches or to the narrow streets of the city centre from the interchange parking areas.

Portoferraio started the summer mini-ferry service “Chicchero”, allowing people to travel to all the main locations of the Portoferraio bay from the city centre. Moreover, other services were offered at daytime and night time, such as the mini-cab “Apecar” and the shuttles “Cosmopoli by night” and “Shopping Bus”.

Rio started the summer shuttle “Marebus”, connecting the different municipal urban areas to the beaches for four consecutive years, and the winter shuttle “Go Bus”, allowing residents and students to reach the main points of interest of the territory.

Connection to other measures

Improvements to local public transport could not be truly successful without building connections with other measures. In Elba, these included:

• linking in with Elba’s SUMP, which highlights the importance of enhancing PT efficiency by adopting new mobility patterns during the tourist season;
• the introduction of a tourist seasonal one-day or six-day ticket called “Elba Card”;
• the introduction of a new service that enables travel tickets to be bought via SMS;
• the use of the AVM “CELSO System”, developed by the technical partner MemEx, to gain real-time information about the LPT services.

More info

For more information, please visit the local website at: https://www.elbasharing.com/trasporto-pubblico/

Outcomes

Positive collaboration with PT stakeholders
The new agreements with the PT stakeholders and operators were key to develop new services and sustainable mobility patterns.         

Improvement of PT services
The addition of PT rides, the renewal of part of the fleet, the installation of bus new shelters and info-mobility tools led to the general improvement of the comfort and attractiveness of public transport.

User satisfaction
The surveys carried out by the local PT provider to assess users’ perceptions about the measure showed general satisfaction concerning the improvement of PT services, in terms of punctuality, comfort and efficiency.

Moreover, other surveys on the supplementary local PT services activated in summer and winter, showed that residents and tourists considered them as very successful, not only as a means of transport, but also as a travel experience in itself.