The Mobility Lab in Oxford was launched on 28th of March at the Barton Neighbourhood Centre. The Centre is a great location insofar as it is close to the project intervention area and, therefore, relevant to people attending the centre.
As a matter of fact, Cities-4-People settled on the Eastern side of the city of Oxford due to the number of lower income communities in this area and the significant amount of employment and growth within the East of the city, but with a lack of public transport linking it up. The project aims to improve the situation with the help of local residents. In this regard, the additional advantage of the Barton Neighbourhood Centre is that it hosts a number of groups, which we have created links to in order to form and expand our Oxfordshire’s Citizen Mobility Community. The result? The Barton community has joined forces with our project to set up a Mobility Community called Bart-on the Move to “Make moving around Barton and Oxford affordable, accessible, sustainable, and easy for all”.
Among those attending the launching event of the Oxfordshire’s Lab were representatives from Oxford Bus Company, Oxfordshire County Council, Barton Community Association, and local residents. Participants were excited to take part and give input in a variety of activities designed to inform the public of PickMeUp, a new Demand Responsive Transport service provided by Oxford Bus Company, and to gather ideas on how to ensure that all members of the Barton community can use this great new way to get around Oxford. ‘Demand Responsive’ is different from a traditional bus in that instead of having a set schedule and route, the demand responsive bus will pick passengers up and drop them off when and where they like, combining the journeys of as many passengers as is convenient to increase efficiency and lower cost compared to a taxi or ride sharing service.
More events (both in the Lab and pop-up ones) and workshops with the local community will follow to keep everyone up to date and engaged in shaping transportation in the area.
Bart-on the Move is hosting the Mobility Lab in the Barton Neighbourhood Centre and in other areas in and around Barton until August 2018. Ideas submitted by the public will be developed and the best will be piloted in Barton in 2019. Keep checking our website to be informed about the progress of this bustling laboratory for ideas and solutions!
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