Rural Networking Partnership
Transport East is working with the Smart Mobility Unit at the University of Hertfordshire to advance research on mobility outside cities.
Historically, research, funding, and policy efforts have focused on urban transport. However, there is now a strong case for increasing support for rural mobility.
Previous research by the University of Hertfordshire and its partners can be found here.
The rural networking partnership was established to build on connections made during the roundtables. It brings together professionals working on transport outside cities and aims to share information about relevant initiatives and studies.
Rural Transport Learning Network Roundtables 2024-5
This series of roundtables brought together a wide range of groups and people active on rural transport, including local authorities, sub-national transport bodies, entrepreneurs, academics, consultants, NGOs and central government.
As with previous ones, this series has revealed a range of projects providing services and tools for improving transport in rural areas, and suggestions for new ideas and approaches to taking these improvements further.
Rural Transport Learning Network Roundtables 2023-4
Our first series of roundtable discussions in 2023/24. The series builds on earlier roundtables hosted by the University of Hertfordshire between 2020 and 2022 to address the shortage of research and policy on transport outside cities and in rural areas.
The format for this roundtable was a two hour online meeting by Zoom and consisted of presentations by speakers followed by questions and discussion, both verbally and via the chat function.
Royal Geographic Society symposium
On 27 March 2024, Transport East, the University of Hertfordshire's Smart Mobility Unit (SMU), and the Royal Geographical Society hosted a symposium on rural mobility.
The event emphasised key themes from previous roundtables and Transport East's Call for Evidence, focusing on future actions. Topics covered included:
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The challenges for rural transport, particularly tackling social exclusion and the climate emergency.
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The future of rural public transport.
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Low carbon tourism and leisure.
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New approaches to rural transport, including mobility hubs and e-bikes.
Experts and practitioners in rural mobility, with experience leading projects and initiatives within local and devolved administrations, presented their insights and recommendations for future policy.
While much research on transport and mobility focuses on cities, there is a growing need to explore policy and governance options for rural areas and city-region edges. These areas contribute significantly to private car use and surface transport carbon emissions.
The University of Hertfordshire’s Smart Mobility Unit has been actively developing research in this field through a series of roundtables. In collaboration with Transport East, they recently held a Call for Evidence on rural mobility. The recommendations from this are available available here.