FREE BUS IN THE PARK

During the period of lockdown caused by the COVID19 emergency, the provincial Public Transport Agency looked for innovative solutions to meet the new organisational and resident/worker needs. One mode of transport that worked perfectly was the one called °call the bus°, a Demand Responsive Transport service.The end of the lockdown and the slow resumption of travel made it possible to rethink this mode of transport not only for work but also for tourism.This new initiative has been strongly encouraged by the mayors of the Valli del SOL Municipalities, the Development Agency GAL Genovese, the Beigua Geopark and financed through the European project Alpine Space Smart Villages.

CREATION OF A NEW STAKEHOLDERS GROUP
Valli del SOL Municipalities, Development Agency GAL Genovese, Beigua Geopark, Metropolitan City of Genoa and ATP services (a public transport company).

RESULTS' ANALYSIS
The requests were about 3/4 passengers per day including tourists and residents.

STEP 1
FOCUS ON THE MUNICIPALITIES’ NEEDS AND OBJECTIVES
The end of the lockdown coincided with a slow resumption of tourist movements, which favoured a nearby tourism, a rediscovery of the landscape and cultural beauties of our hinterland.
The peculiarities of the territory of the Valli del SOL have suggested to develop a project strategy including the management of a call centre service and the consequent transport service both for residents and tourist flows.
GAL Genovese have guaranteed a fruitful dialogue with the territory and the involved actors (ATP, Municipalities, Beigua Geopark) through different meetings of the Regional Stakeholder Group.
STEP 2
"FREE BUS IN THE PARK"
From 6 July to 31 August 2020 for the summer season and the arrival of holidaymakers in the valleys of the hinterland, the Public Transport Agency Atp has provided the "Free Bus in the Park" service for the Valli del Sol. The service was organized to offer free public transport, capable of transporting residents and tourists even in the most distant hamlets of the five municipalities of the district: Mele, Campo Ligure, Masone, Rossiglione and Tiglieto.
The free on-call transport service, "Free bus in the park", has been active every day from 8.00 am to 6.00 pm.
Access to the service was available only to users who requested transport via the GREEN NUMBER 800-499999 (active from Monday to Saturday from 8.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon) the day before the trip.
These are the rules of the service:
- Reservations must be made by the day before the trip.
- The trips were made according to the booking order. The user had to give notice in case of cancellation of the reservation.
- The user was called back to confirm the booking and the time of the trip.
STEP 3
PROMOTION AND MONITORING
The GAL Genovese promoted the initiative through the company's website, social networks and ad hoc communications. The municipalities of the Stura Valley have also disseminated the news to make the population aware of the use of the service. The transport company informed with indications on the ATP website and with descriptive signs at the main bus stops.
GAL Genovese has always monitored the operation of the service. Every week there was a comparison with the transport company and the municipalities of the Valli del SOL.
For example, after the first two weeks of service we realized the importance of having a bike trailer attached to the bus, given the many requests from groups of bike lovers.
STEP 4
RESULTS ANALYSIS
The requests were about 3/4 passengers per day including tourists and residents.
Several times during the season were satisfied many requests from groups of trekking and electric bike lovers who, thanks to the bike trailer attached to the bus made available for the service, have been able to take walks and trips out of town in the beautiful Ligurian hinterland.
Moreover, thanks also to the use of the free bus, it has been possible to organize a guided tour of the villages of the Stura valley, involving agricultural and handicraft activities of the territory.
Analyzing the data at the end of the pilot action, we can say that the free bus in the park service worked and was used both by residents and by tourists, thanks to the summer season and the end of the lockdown.
The experimentation could be repeated in summer both for the SOL Valleys and for other valleys in the Province of Genoa, trying to involve as many stakeholders as possible, in order to create strong synergies between sectors and make the service even more functional.

The "Valli del SOL" is the union of the municipalities of the Stura Orba and Leira Valleys with the municipalities of Mele, Masone, Campo Ligure, Rossiglione and Tiglieto. The area is located about 30 km from the city of Genoa, the capital of the region Liguria and is part of the Metropolitan City of Genoa. A part of the territory of the area is included in the Regional Natural Park of Mount Beigua, a geopark recognized by UNESCO. The territory is famous for its natural beauty and is historically linked to breeding and agriculture, as well as an early industrial development linked to the processing of iron and then cotton and silk. The handicraft working of filigree jewels is still active in the Municipality of Campo Ligure. The progressive transfer of companies starting from the second half of the last century has started commuting processes that still have a certain importance today.

1 expert in rural development (contacts with stakeholders), 1 responsible for administrative and accounting, 1 expert in communication matter and event organization, 1 public transport company with 1 operator.
Investment amount: 16.000 €

COLLABORATION WITHIN THE REGIONAL STAKEHOLDERS GROUP

PRESENCE OF A TRANSPORT COMPANY

APPROPRIATE PROMOTION AND QUALITY OF THE SERVICE

STEP 1
FOCUS ON THE MUNICIPALITIES’ NEEDS AND OBJECTIVES

STEP 2
"FREE BUS IN THE PARK" SERVICE ORGANIZATION

STEP 3
PROMOTION AND MONITORING

STEP 4
RESULTS ANALYSIS

An initial difficulty was been the user trust but a persistent promotion has guarated good results afterwards.