People need mobility services to live a daily life independent of a car, whether from necessity or by their choice. The lack of suitable mobility services is a serious challenge in much of rural Europe, where there is limited or no regular organised public transport. While there have been huge advances in sustainable mobility in urban areas, there is not yet any counterpart for rural areas. This appears to stem primarily from lack of goal- and target-based Policy that addresses rural mobility.

The workshop will deal with possible new directions for rural mobility, through a set of structured group discussions. The main themes addressed will be: (i) the current limitations in rural mobility and how they impact on individuals, communities, local businesses and the work of support agencies; (ii) existing good practice and emerging solutions that could form the toolbox and guidance for improved rural mobility; (iii) whether/how new or adapted policy could enable better rural mobility, and what is appropriate to different levels of policy-makers (EU, national, regional, local); and (iv) what can practically be achieved within the existing framework. The target output of the workshop is a concise set of statements for consideration by ERP.

This workshop is facilitated by the SMARTA project, funded by the European Commission and managed by DG-MOVE. A wide range of materials can be found at www.ruralsharedmobility.eu