Lead Partner: Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations
Description
This report (attached below) was funded by the Carnegie UK Trust as part of its Rural Action Research Programme, and managed by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO).
This research set out to explore the issues of integration of transport related services in rural areas, looking at the examples of public, private, community and voluntary transport providers in Cowal, Argyll & Bute, Scotland. The main focus of the study was on exploring barriers to integration, benefits of integration and what needs to change to overcome existing problems and encourage greater integration on the ground. A case study of the Cowal community transport organisation (CTO) Interloch Transport was conducted by the CTA in order to explore the issues of integration of booking systems in more depth and offer potential solutions on its further improvement.
The report provides the overall mapping of transport operators in Argyll & Bute, setting out the local context for conditions of integration between stakeholders, and describes the socio-geographic challenges that transport providers face in the area.
The research examines previous experiences of integration and identifies that the majority of stakeholders recognise its value and potential benefits and are keen to work in partnerships, however many are aware of the serious constraints on the way to achieving it.
The report draws upon a number of types of barriers to integration identified by stakeholders that include legislative constraints, eligibility criteria restrictions, funding constraints, financial implications, planning frameworks and coordination of booking systems.
The study explored why integration needs to be achieved and how it benefits various groups of stakeholders. Although it is clear that integration can be a win-win solution for many parties involved, there are still several major changes that are required to make the process of integration achievable. They range from changes in funding conditions by funding bodies to developing incentives and introducing a bottom-up approach on the ground.
The research also looked closely into a range of booking systems available for transport related services and how they can meet the needs of CTOs. The Community Transport Association produced a needs analysis of the Cowal CTO, Interloch Transport, looking at their current booking system and possibilities of its integration with booking systems of other transport operators in the area.
The research also produced a social audit framework for Interloch Transport that is designed to help an organisation to assess its social, environmental and economic impacts. This framework can contribute towards the development of a model for other transport providers to assess their impact and introduce social audit into their work.
Contact Details
Norman MacAskill Rural Policy Manager Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations Fairways House Fairways Business Park Inverness IV2 6AA Tel: 01463 251731 Email: norman.macaskill@scvo.org.ukWebsite: http://www.scvo.org.uk
| Attachment | Size |
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| Integrating Transport Related Services in Rural Areas.pdf | 752.68 KB |