Study the possibility of extending existing car sharing solutions to touristic remote areas Birštonas city and Druskininkai city.
The pilot/study case will take place in Birštonas city and Druskininkai city (Lithuania).
Description of the area
Birštonas is a spa resort town located between the two largest cities of Lithuania: Vilnius (capital) and Kaunas. Birštonas situated 30 km south of Kaunas and 100 km west of Vilnius. The second one, Druskininkai is a spa resort town in southern Lithuania close to the borders of Belarus and Poland. Both resorts, apart from abundant spa/ wellness procedures, have a lot of other sports// recreation (ski arena, water park, ski hill, etc.). So, they are very popular all year round not only among citizens of Lithuania but also receive a large number of guests from neighbouring countries, mostly from Germany, Poland, Byelorusia and Russia. Both spa towns are accessed by national status roads from Kaunas, Vilnius, and Marijampolė. These towns are served by the Vilnius International airport and Kaunas International Airport. The growth of the native population is negative (Druskininkai has 23,000 residents and Birštonas – only 2,300), and the population is ageing.
The mobility challenges
- Connectivity is not solved correctly with other Lithuanian regions and biggest cities Vilnius and Kaunas.
- Suburban public transport is not sufficiently developed or does not exist at all.
The pilot case
The aim of the case study is the examination of car-sharing services modes and other types of transport means in Lithuania, the tasks of the Lithuanian project partner Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VGTU) include:
- Implementation of car-sharing service modes and other types of public transport for improving sustainable mobility in rural regions and remote areas.
- New collaborative business models of services based on sharing economy for mobility in rural and/or remote areas will be investigated.
- Reviewing the existing regulatory framework in a rental car and insurance regulation in EU countries.
- Conducting a market assessment to understand the competitive landscape, who what their mobility frustrations (failure to meet expectations) are and if the proposed business model will solve that problem.
- New concepts of marketing of car-sharing system and new business models for sharing economy will be developed. Feasibility study for the implementation of the automated vehicles instead of conventional will be provided.
Partner implementing the project:
VGTU (details on the partner to be added soon)
Title picture credit: VGTU (c.)