Mobility Centres are happening
A main task of the MAMBA project is the development of Mobility Centres (MC) within the pilot areas. With is launch in January 2019, the MC in Seinäjoki was among the first ones going into service, followed by its counterparts in Cuxhaven and Plön (Germany) and Joensuu (Finland).
In a first step, the MAMBA project partners in South Ostrobothnia (Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences and Regional Council of South Ostrobothnia) in cooperation with the City of Seinäjoki and the Regional Government, Health and Social Service Reform South Ostrobothnia, organised a preliminary discussion for the creation of a regional Mobility Centre. The participants represented the municipalities and joint municipal authorities responsible for organising social and health care related transportation. The aim of the meeting was to discuss the possibilities for creating a regional Mobility Centre, integrating different transport forms, prioritising health- and social care-related transportation. The background for the meeting was the previously published Regional Analytical Framework concerning social-and health care-related transportation, provided by MAMBA. Now the MAMBA project partners participated in the meeting and supported the meeting arrangements.
On 28 March 2019, another Mobility Centre Launch Event, named “Mobility in the county of Cuxhaven – Developments and plans”, took place. The meeting was attended by 31 participants who discussed projects and activities related to the MAMBA project, the need of a MC, the Organisation Chart of the MC of the County of Cuxhaven and the schedule for its implementation. Furthermore, “MobiNe” – the village car that is in the process of procurement was also presented during the event, together with the plans to set up a Mobility Coach that will visit inhabitants, delivering them information.
The launch event of the MAMBA partner Kreis Plön took place on 4 March 2019 in Kiel, the state capital of Schleswig-Holstein and was attended by the main stakeholders and partners – Verkehrsbetriebe Kreis Plön, the county owned bus company, the Transport Association of Schleswig-Holstein NAH.SH, KielRegion, a supra-regional business development agency, the City of Kiel and the neighbouring County Rendsburg-Eckernförde, which are part of the mobility network in this area. Kreis Plön presented the MC concept, planned as an interactive website, working as a data hub that gathers information on different mobility services (e.g. public transport, car sharing, bike sharing, park-n-ride), promoting alternatives to individualised motor vehicle transportation and offering real-time information on available mobility options, e.g. current bus itineraries.
Another Mobility Centre opened on 1November 2018, in Joensuu, Finland. The event was part of the annual Eastern Finland Transport and Logistics days. There were 135 expert participants from different areas of transport at this event, all relevant mobility and transport actors of the region of North Karelia and Eastern Finland.
MAMBA project partners will further follow the possible development of the regional Mobility Centre and support it for example by ensuring the interaction between different parties.