INTEGRATION OF DEMAND RESPONSIVE SERVICES FOR FLEXIBLE MANAGEMENT OF BUS OPERATIONS IN FLORENCE

After initial experiences in the sixties and seventies, the concept of demand-responsive public transport services (DRTS) has recently gained renewed interest by public transport operators. This is due, on the one hand, to the possibilities offered nowadays by the improved information and telecommunication technologies available on the market and, on the other hand, to the general trends in transportation engineering, where more flexible, complex and integrated models for the management of mobility are being developed and applied. This paper reports on some experiences ongoing in Italy, in the area of DRTS. A functional architecture is illustrated for DRTS management within an area where integration is to be implemented with an AVM system. The overall system is to be linked, on the one side, to the fleet management AVM system and, on the other side, to the DRTS vehicles. The developments ongoing in Florence are carried out partly under the European DG XIII Telematics research and development project SAMPO, which is seeking to promote improved operation and management of public transport services by application of DRTS facilities in several European sites.