DRT for DRT: Developing Relevant Tools for Demand Responsive Transport

The EPSRC-funded 'DRT for DRT: Developing Relevant Tools for Demand Responsive Transport' is a three-year research project, awarded to a research team within the Transport Studies Group, School of Civil & Building Engineering, Loughborough University. The project led by Dr Tim Ryley, together with colleagues Dr Marcus Enoch, Dr Mohammed Quddus, Dr Lisa Davison and Dr Chao Wang, is examining the role of Demand Response Transport (DRT) in Great Britain. DRT is a transport option that can be simply conceptualised as a hybrid of a regular bus service and a variably routed taxi.

The rise in private car use in Great Britain has major implications relating to how transport more generally is provided. One problem is that conventional public transport (i.e. bus, light rail and heavy rail) is steadily becoming a less viable travel option for more and more journeys, and consequently there is an urgent need for new alternatives to be developed.

Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) is one solution that almost become a mainstream mode during the 1970s and in the late 1990s/early 2000s, and would now appear to be making another attempt to become a viable transport option. This research has determined the existing position of DRT in Great Britain and the potential demand for DRT services (of some type) at a local level. It will be examining the most suitable types of DRT in each of the most promising of these local areas; the potential for DRT in delivering public transport services nationally; and the barriers and possible solutions to the realisation of this potential.