Mobility dialogue

Summary

Brno wanted to improve communication with public transport users and better incorporate customers’ needs in transport planning. Within CIVITAS ELAN, the city took the opportunity to look into ways of achieving this.

Implementing sustainable mobility

City of Brno together with its partners in public transport planning aims at incorporating customers’ needs into its transport planning by means of establishing the mobility dialogue. It offers new ways of communication and different approaches towards customers. Doing this, Brno incorporated demographic changes and land use information into transport planning and created a more flexible transport plan. Public transport service needs to be provided according to the needs and opinions of the customers. This measure builds upon the transport planning work done by the KORDIS JMK (the coordinator of the Integrated Public Transport System of the South Moravian Region) in years before the implementation of CIVITAS ELAN.

Using the aforementioned previous work, the long term Transport Plan for years 2010-2024 was elaborated. This was one of the first steps of measure implementation, preceded only by establishing of the expert working group which designed it.
Basic data regarding customer needs and opinions was gathered by means of so called “Transport Barometer” survey, which had been conducted on yearly basis by KORDIS JMK and commissioned by the Transport Department of Brno City Municipality already for some time before the start of CIVITAS ELAN project. The measure aims as well to develop a flexible procedure of evaluating this information and implementing changes according to it. It identifies ways for better communication with the PT users which could be used in more CEE and other middle sized cities.

Using a preset timetable, the survey is conducted regularly at the same time every year, analysed and the results are provided to transport planners in time to be implemented to the specifications of the yearly transport plan for the next year. Opinions are reflected and trends are evaluated every year so that the service can be adjusted to the needs of the passengers every year.

Progress

Brno has prepared sociological research and clustered different groups of public transport users and citizens. The city has identified appropriate communication channels and has put together the specifications for the transport plan.

The four sociological survey were carried out. Based on their results and other analysis four transport plans were prepared.

The measure continues after the end of the project. 

Outcomes

The key results focus on the impact of the results of the Transport Barometer on the Transport plan. All requests and recommendations collected in the Transport Barometer are answered and if it is possible they are accepted. Such an example are the new school buses that are now operating in Brno City District Medlánky and thus helping to get the children from new housing area to the schools safely.

The most important recommendations which resulted from sociological research is to improve the quality of the services of the interchanges and improve the quality of the PT services itself, and to improve the possibility of change. Therefore for example the interchange at Česká/Joštova, which was reconstructed last year, was equipped with new shelters and ticket vending machines. The surface is barrier free and supplemented with the guiding lines for the blind. Within CIVITAS ELAN the stop was equipped with electronic information panels with real time information.

Cooperation between stakeholders is necessary to implement CE actions, especially in the environment where this is not a daily practice. Setting up a good cooperation to maintain and proceed with involving citizens is a key issue.