Rural Mobility Research Articles

Identification of Mobility Patterns in Rural Areas of Low Demographic Density through Stated Preference Surveys

Within the multiple urban–rural interactions that make up the territorial dynamics, this article addresses and identifies how mobility relations are produced between neighbouring municipalities that share services. The aim of this research is to carry out a diagnosis of the current mobility situation in an area of low population density in order to identify the needs and possible shortcomings in this area. The initial identification of weaknesses is essential in order to propose solutions for rural mobility. The methodology adopted is based on two distinct lines of work: (1) analysis of information in open data from public repositories using geographic information system tools (GIS), and (2) surveys of citizens living in the study area. The results allude to the fact that the most transcendental problem in the study area is the lack of a quality collective public transport service that meets minimum utility requirements for users, a fact that generates a transfer towards the use of private vehicles. No serious parking, noise, pollution or road safety problems are observed; however, similar dynamics to other rural areas with low demographic density are confirmed, such as the age of the mobile fleet and an aging population with accessibility problems. The presence of new modes of transport (electric bicycles, personal mobility vehicles, and even electric vehicles) is practically insignificant. Both teleworking and the new consumer habits associated with online shopping have not yet had a strong impact. Political decision making by public administrations is identified as a direct application of this research.

E-bikes in rural areas: current and potential users in the Netherlands

This study considers how socio-demographic characteristics, mobility situation and attitudes explain current and potential e-bike use in rural areas. Due to longer distances between travel destinations, rural areas in most western societies are characterized by a high car dependence and low use of active modes like walking and cycling. Developing e-bike mobility in these areas can support more healthy and sustainable rural mobility. A large-scale mobility survey conducted among rural residents in the northern parts of the Netherlands provides insight in the determinants of current and potential e-bike use in rural areas. The participant characteristics show that in rural areas also, the e-bike is already used among a broad population of varied ages and backgrounds and for different purposes. Among respondents who did not own an e-bike, especially those with lower socioeconomic status and a household with children showed more willingness to use an e-bike in the future. No evidence was found for current or potential substitution of public transport use. Current e-bike users less likely use a car or regular bicycle as their primary mode of transport. Those who are willing to use an e-bike are less likely to currently use a regular bicycle as their main mode of transport. These findings suggest that the e-bike can substitute both car and bicycle use to some extent. However, bicycle users seem more reluctant towards owning or adopting an e-bike than car users, suggesting greater potential for a shift away from car travel. Furthermore, current and potential e-bike users hold more positive attitudes toward different aspects of e-bike travel than non-users. This provides impetus for future actions to further encourage e-bike use.

Developing disruptive mobility scenarios for rural areas. Participatory mobility scenario building in a Belgian village for the year 2050

BackgroundHistorically, quantitative forecasting methods have been used in transport planning. As forecasts can be unreliable to plan for the medium- and long-term, scenario building has recently been increasingly used. However, scenario building methods often fail to take disruptions and wild cards into account, i.e., low probability but high impact events. When unaccounted for, wild card events, like the COVID-19 pandemic, lower the efficacy of scenario building in policy making, as these events may completely disturb the developed scenarios of the future.MethodsIn this paper, we develop and apply a creative and participatory methodology to develop visions and disrupted scenarios for rural mobility. Our research was carried out in the Belgian village of Oetingen, where inhabitants developed more resilient views of the future by creating disrupted mobility scenarios and a preferred mobility vision for their village for the year 2050 in a participatory scenario building exercise. Wild cards related to mobility were collected from mobility experts and inhabitants in three workshops. Inhabitants were engaged to define their mobility vision on a postcard that was distributed to all houses in the village as well as on a project website. Respondents were invited for a follow-up interview in which their preferred mobility vision was subjected to the wild cards, and participants described how these wild cards would change their preferred vision. As children tend to have more creative ideas, they were engaged via workshops at school.ResultsThis process resulted in mobility scenarios for the village for the year 2050 based on the different wild cards, as well as an overall desired vision. We found that the use of wild cards did not significantly change the scenarios when compared to the vision, although it did make the interviewees step outside of their comfort zones. We also found that the citizens did not have more original and less path-dependent ideas in developing wild cards when compared to experts. Lastly, we found that children have many outside-of-the-box suggestions when it comes to the future. Although some of their ideas can be judged as impractical by today’s standards, many ideas had an indirect implication for mobility in the village and gave insights into children’s priorities, as potential future residents of the village.

Social impact of mobile libraries on rural children in Taiwan: A qualitative content analysis

Equity of information access regardless of age, gender, origin or background is a guiding principle in library-related policies. It is generally considered that public libraries were founded in order to alleviate social injustice. Their use has enabled individual free access to information, stimulating an informed citizenship and aiding social inclusion. A lack of access to information in rural areas has been recognised as an urgent need which should be tackled globally. The purpose of this study is to examine whether children’s mobile libraries in remote rural areas of Taiwan enhance social impact as an exemplar for similar regions globally. The design of the study adopted a qualitative strategy with generalised findings in order to capitalise on the exploratory, open-ended nature of social inclusion-related issues. It sought to understand how participants perceived the social impact of mobile libraries on children in rural areas, based on their lived experiences. Purposive sampling identified 23 participants from six public library authorities using the criteria of places visited, frequency and longevity of that service. Qualitative interviews with participants were audio recorded, transcribed and in some cases translated. Coding emerged from the analysis of sample interviews and qualitative content analysis was used. Four areas of social impact were identified: Reading development, community connection, social space, equality of opportunity. It was found that mobile libraries have a social impact on children in rural areas, enabling equity of information access and enhancing reading motivations. The children felt valued allowing them to contribute as members of society. No previous research has examined the lived experience of children in rural Taiwan. Different cultural expectations means that assumptions made from research conducted in the UK or America may not apply. This research has filled the gap of validated information about children’s library services, rural mobile libraries and their social impact in non-western countries.

Impacts of information and communication technologies on the SDGs: the case of Mayu Telecomunicaciones in rural areas of Peru

ABSTRACT Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are considered a cross-cutting tool that contributes to meeting the global challenges set out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, in many countries, there is still a significant connectivity gap between cities and rural areas. Using a case study approach and the Digital-for-development paradigm proposed by Heeks, this paper explores an innovative strategy for addressing the rural connectivity gap and examines its impact on the SDGs. The model under analysis is the Rural Mobile Infrastructure Operator (RMIO). The specific case analyzed is the first company operating under an RMIO figure and offering services in underserved rural areas of Peru. The results show that the RMIO strategy primarily contributes to some specific targets of SDGs 3, 9, and 17. Key stakeholders can use the methodology and results of this study to develop strategies to address the connectivity divide and promote the achievement of the SDGs in rural contexts.

An Assessment of Operation and Maintenance of Trail Bridges for Sustainable Mobility in Nepal

Trial bridges have a significant impact on mobility and socioeconomic status in rural regions of Nepal. The construction of the trail bridges is the important transportation mobility of Nepal to enhance rural mobility. It is essential to establish an effective operation and maintenance (O&M) plan for the long-term sustainability of the trail bridges. Proper O&M mechanism has a significant impact on safe, secure, durable, and sustainable service in the community. In our context, it is very challenging due to a lack of proper technology, a proper management system, and a scarcity of resources. The study was focused on evaluating the implementation status of operation and maintenance of trail bridges in Mugum Karmarong Rural Municipality of Mugu district of Nepal. Quantitative and qualitative data have been collected to evaluate the operation and maintenance status of twenty bridges. The related officials, businessmen, teachers, students, local community members, user group members, health workers, and other stakeholders of Trail Bridge were considered for the survey. The design guidelines, published literature, and other related guidelines of the Government of Nepal (GoN) were analyzed for the research. The convenient survey was conducted from sampled respondents along with three focus group discussions in three trail bridge projects. Further, key informants were interviewed comprising different stakeholders involved in the project planning and implementation process from central to the local level. The quantitative and quantitative data has been adopted and analyzed using a simple statistical method has performed for quantitative data analysis, and the content analysis method is used to interpret qualitative findings. The study concluded that the overall implementation status of O&M of trail bridges in Mugum Karmarong Municipality is disappointing and needs immediate operation and maintenance. The study indicates that proper O&M of trail bridges have a significant reduction in time to reach the school and health service is directly related to increased enrollment in schools and increased health facilities in communities, respectively. The income status and livelihood of people in communities have improved due to an increase in mobility and market accessibility from the operation of trail bridges . The output of this study will be the milestone for the proper operation, and management system development for sustainable, reliable, and cost-effective infrastructure development in the country.

Developing counterurbanisation: Making sense of rural mobility and governance in Japan

Urbanisation has been a dominant trend in Japan over the last fifty years. However, in the context of rapidly ageing and depopulating rural areas, recent research has begun to examine the lives, motivations and difficulties of an apparently increasing number of counter-urban migrants in Japan. Despite this, the extent and policy drivers of counterurbanisation and, wider, rural in-migration remains underexamined. In this paper we examine shifts in the governance and representation of the rural, particularly in relation to rural mobilities, that have occurred in Japan in the last few decades. We subsequently draw on secondary migration data to shed light on rural mobility trends in Japan. In doing so, we highlight the way in which counterurbanisation in Japan represents a development strategy pursued by central government and underpinned by an idealisation of the countryside rather than a significant pattern on the ground. As such, we argue that Japan is characterised by two forms of counterurbanisation, an idealised form which renders counter-urban mobilities as a means to tackle rural pathologies, and a more limited material counterurbanisation observed on the ground. Finally, we suggest a need for convergence between these two forms.

Implications of COVID-19 for future travel behaviour in the rural periphery

BackgroundThe design, management and operation of transport systems is a complex activity and this has only been exacerbated since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Concern has been raised over the likelihood of the public transport sector surviving in some locations given the significant drops in patronage; this is especially so in rural environments where the existing provision was already limited. Furthermore, within the growing literature on the impact of COVID-19 on travel behaviour most of the focus is on urban areas with little documented experience of how rural travel behaviour has been impacted.PurposeThis paper investigates the impact of COVID-19 on the transport sector and travel behaviour in the rural periphery.MethodsDrawing on the work of the International Transport Forum (ITF) Working Group on Innovative Mobility for the Periphery, augmented by additional evidence and findings from the literature, this paper addresses three specific questions: Firstly, how COVID-19 has affected rural mobility. Secondly, how we can plan for sustainable rural transport solutions in the post-COVID world. Thirdly, the longer-term impacts of COVID-19 with implications for mobility.ResultsThere will be substantial impacts from COVID-19 on rural societies and while the short-term impacts have been negative, in the longer-term there may be opportunity for changed mobility behaviours (including in response to modified work and activity patterns). Evidence suggests that it would seem likely that there are opportunities to foster new rural mobility solutions to support sustainable mobility (including Mobility-as-a-Service) and counter the traditionally fragmented transport base; this will be important as we learn to live with COVID-19.ConclusionsWhile recognising the impact of changing funding priorities and the possible shift in economic activity as a result of the pandemic we conclude with suggestions for future rural transport policy.

Research on Logistics Supply Chain Management in the Process of Online Sales of E-commerce Agricultural Products

If the country wants to develop rural E-commerce, the Internet and mobile Internet should reconstruct a new system of rural commerce and trade within the prefecture-level city. The E-commerce platform builds an information management system for online sales, and the platform improves the operational efficiency and data service capabilities of agricultural products; develops online sales to solve the problem of rising agricultural products, connects urban and rural E-commerce online sales of agricultural products, and provides convenience for community supermarkets and conveniences in ground-level cities. stores and various community terminal service online stores. On the one hand, the operation service center with prefecture-level cities and counties as the sub-centers introduces the cooperation of E-commerce service enterprises to provide services for the online sales of agricultural products, which effectively improves the logistics supply chain management in the process of online sales of E-commerce agricultural products.

Status Quo of Rural Mobile Kitchens in the New Era and the Management Approach

Mobile kitchens are becoming a new industry in rural areas where a certain number of villages cooks initiatively get together, bringing their own cookers, tables, chairs and benches, and other utensils to serve local customers in need of a catering. In recent years, mobile kitchens have become popular in rural areas and are expanding in scale as social and economic conditions continue to improve. However, the development of rural mobile kitchens is still not fully in line with the requirements of rural development in the new era, and there are a lot of problems in many aspects, some of which are even not conform to the development plan of agriculture and rural areas in the new era. Against the background that the central government has established the general policy of giving priority to the development of agriculture and rural areas and made a major decision to implement the strategy of revitalizing the rural areas, it is important to study the status quo and problems in the development and operation of mobile kitchens for the benefit of people's happiness and rural revitalization, which is an important move to achieve sustainable development and historical changes. Taking Poyang County as an example, this paper explored the current situation and management methods of mobile kitchens with the aim of promoting the standardized and institutionalized development of mobile kitchens and responding to the call for modernization of agriculture as well as rural revitalization in the 14th Five-Year Plan.

Empirical recommendations based on case studies in Japan for sustainable innovative mobility in rural areas

Several innovative mobility pilots have been launched in Japan to address the vicious spiral of decreasing usage, revenue, and attractiveness of rural public transport which would support the residents' daily lives. This research examines these case studies to discern measures for implementing sustainable innovative mobility in local areas that are integrated into a wider public transport (PT) network. The context in Japan is in contrast to Europe, in that the main providers of PT services in Japan are private companies. Examining the result of interviews with the planners and stakeholders of these Japanese initiatives, this paper recommends mobility planners consider several perspectives such as envisioning future area management, connecting private-sector invention and local public transport operators’ resources as well as other sectors, deploying technology that matches small area scale and user needs, integration into wider public transport network, for sustainable rural mobility.

Network adoption subsidies: A digital evaluation of a rural mobile phone program in Rwanda

Governments commonly target subsidies for communication networks in remote areas. We analyze a program in Rwanda that subsidized the equivalent of 8% of the stock of mobile phones, using 5.3 billion transaction records. Handsets mostly stayed in rural areas: 85% of accounts receiving subsidized handsets mostly use a rural tower. Subsidized handsets were used as much as purchased handsets. Recipients are highly connected to each other. We simulate welfare effects using a network demand system. Up to 69% of the impact on operator revenue comes from spillovers on nonrecipients. We also assess counterfactual targeting based on network properties and vouchers.

The school bus: An opportunity for improving rural mobility

Many rural Australians are at risk of social exclusion and lower wellbeing due to poor accessibility options. This paper notes how rural transport disadvantage can increase a person's risk of social exclusion and points to the high costs associated therewith. It argues for a coordinated and shared response to local rural transport, using the example of wider use being made of dedicated school bus services to improve rural mobility choices and associated social inclusion. Barriers to opening up the school bus to a broader range of passengers are reviewed and expected benefits are identified, supporting wider use.

MHEALTH FROM THE PERSPECTIVES OF INDIAN RURAL POPULACE; URGENT NEED TO MAINSTREAM MHEALTH WITH THE EMERGENCE OF COVID-19

mHealth now, more than ever, need to be integrated with existing health systems to further contactless healthcare and health delivery solutions. Studies have reported that mHealth can ensure enhanced health outcomes, ample patient care and offer quality support for professional health workers. Several studies have examined the potential of mHealth from various stakeholder perspectives. However, a serious dearth of studies exists that examine the advantages and challenges of using this technology from mHealth users‘ perspective especially in the rural context. This study examines the use of mobile phones for health-related purposes from the perspective of rural people belonging to the South Indian state of Karnataka. The focus is on their use of mobile phone to seek medical assistance, health information and services. The study also seeks to understand the barriers and challenges faced by the rural folk in accessing health related services, information and assistance through mobile phones. A qualitative research approach using in-depth interviews as data collection tool, was applied. Mobile phones are reported as useful by the rural mobile phone users for receiving health-related messages as well as for accessing help during emergency health conditions. However, to enable equity of use of this technology in the rural scenario and also for the government to use this technology for providing responses during public health emergencies such as COVID-19, challenges such as the existing mobile phone infrastructure, digital illiteracy and perceived health concerns of mobile phone use among rural folk need to be addressed.

Escaping from Cities during the COVID-19 Crisis: Using Mobile Phone Data to Trace Mobility in Finland

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis resulted in unprecedented changes in the spatial mobility of people across societies due to the restrictions imposed. This also resulted in unexpected mobility and population dynamics that created a challenge for crisis preparedness, including the mobility from cities during the crisis due to the underlying phenomenon of multi-local living. People changing their residences can spread the virus between regions and create situations in which health and emergency services are not prepared for the population increase. Here, our focus is on urban–rural mobility and the influence of multi-local living on population dynamics in Finland during the COVID-19 crisis in 2020. Results, based on three mobile phone datasets, showed a significant drop in inter-municipal mobility and a shift in the presence of people—a population decline in urban centres and an increase in rural areas, which is strongly correlated to secondary housing. This study highlights the need to improve crisis preparedness by: (1) acknowledging the growing importance of multi-local living, and (2) improving the use of novel data sources for monitoring population dynamics and mobility. Mobile phone data products have enormous potential, but attention should be paid to the varying methodologies and their possible impact on analysis.

The factors in residents' mobility in rural towns of China: Car ownership, road infrastructure and public transport services

The improvement of rural people's mobility in developing countries has informed many policies. Still, debates remain on which policies are efficient, for instance, building more roads, providing public transport or promoting car ownership. The empirical evidence for these debates at the national level remains scarce. As a result, this paper aims to provide fresh evidence for discussions by examining residents' mobility in China using nationwide survey data with 12,524 respondents from 119 rural towns. The results of the analysis show car ownership is the most significant factor influencing rural people's mobility than other factors. Higher car ownership relates to a higher travel frequency to counties or cities. Other kinds of transport vehicles (i.e. electric cars, motorcycles and electric bikes) also have positive but relatively weaker impacts on rural mobility. For public transport, it is more accessible to access bus stops, which encourages travel to higher-order centres rather than increasing the frequency of county bus services. The accessibility of high-quality road systems tends to have a negative influence and has combined effects with levels of local services. People from towns with insufficient local services and poor access to highways travel the most frequently to higher-order centres. This study highlights the critical role of road investments and car ownership enhancement policies in improving mobility. Moreover, this study also underscores the supplemental role of public transport services given the current low car ownership rates in rural towns of China and the global consensus on sustainable green transport development. It highlights the importance of engaging eco-friendly and locally adaptive transport alternatives, such as electric cars and electric bikes. It also calls for a rational distribution of bus stops and more flexible, convenient, and physically accessible public transport and carshare modes in rural China.

Nation-Empire: Ideology and Rural Youth Mobilization in Japan and Its Colonies by Sayaka Chatani

Nation-Empire: Ideology and Rural Youth Mobilization in Japan and Its Colonies by Sayaka Chatani

Mapping Rural Mobility in the Niakhar Area (Fatick Region, Senegal)

Despite the development of information and communication technologies, mobility still remains an important factor in the development of the social capital, by promoting social interactions. However, rural African populations face more difficulties getting around than city dwellers. In addition, studies on mobility in Africa are relatively weak. In rural African areas, this ignorance of mobility is even more important. It is necessary to identify the characteristics and the spatial structure of mobility flows before starting any reflection on solutions, particularly in terms of spatial allocation of transport resources. Our main objective is to map the current movement flows in the Niakhar area. We chose to use the cartographic approach to analyze mobility flows. The data come from a survey carried out in 2018, as part of the French Institute of Research for Development (IRD) Niakhar Atlas project. For the data analysis, we used 4 methods: dominant flux method, net flux calculation method, directional mean statistics and areal interpolation. The results revealed differences in mobility behavior depending on the season and in space, and the existence of three dominant centers: Ngayokhème, Diohine and Toucar. They also made it possible to highlight the main directions of the flows and the scalar fields of mobility.

5G for Remote Areas: Challenges, Opportunities and Business Modeling for Brazil

Globalization, digitalization, and urbanization are progressing at a fast pace in cities and regions across the world. New technologies and innovations typically reach urban regions first, where Return on Investment (ROI) tends to be higher than in remote or rural areas, which are characterized by low population densities, low potential revenues, and large distances to urban clusters and societal service. This process has consistently increased the digital urban-rural gap. As an example, the Fifth Generation of Mobile Network (5G) has recently started to be rolled out, starting in the cities. Many challenges remain to bring broadband connectivity to the rural and remote regions. Particularly in Brazil, there is still a big digital gap between urban and rural areas. Urban areas have an internet penetration of around 65% while the rural figure is at just 34%. There are also important differences concerning the geographical location in the country. The North and Northeast regions of Brazil have lower internet penetration than the South, Southeast, and Center. In this paper, we present opportunities for connecting the unconnected in Brazil by defining a new alternative and scalable business model to deploy networks in ultra-low density areas. We present an analysis of show stoppers, rural opportunity sizing, business case, including deployment model for a 5G network, costs incurred, and generated revenues. A central element to bring scalability and sustainability into the business model for rural connectivity is the association between a Mobile Network Operator (MNO) and Rural Mobile Infrastructure Operator (RMIO), in which RMIOs run their network on a slice of a network that is connected to incumbent operators. Profit and Loss (P&L) analysis shows that a fair split of the value generated between the MNO and RMIO can be achieved.

O processo de fechamento das escolas rurais nos municípios de Arraias e Combinado - TO

As políticas de Educação do Campo têm se consolidado nos movimentos sociais por um projeto político e pedagógico de emancipação dos povos do campo. O recorte desta pesquisa delimita-se entre o período de 1998 a 2015, cujo objetivo é investigar os marcos normativos da educação do campo que asseguram o direito à educação pública de qualidade aos povos camponeses e compreender as políticas de fechamento das escolas rurais localizadas em Arraias e Combinado no estado do Tocantins. Em termos metodológicos, utilizamos como fonte de pesquisa a revisão bibliográfica e documental na organização e sistematização de fontes primárias. A partir disso a pesquisa revela que o fechamento das escolas rurais nos devidos municípios evidencia a negação do direito à educação no ambiente em que vivem. Sendo assim, os direitos educacionais conquistados foram violados pelo poder público no processo de mobilização e organização das comunidades rurais.