Riga's path to promote active transport for the first and last mile
The Challenge
In Riga’s current context, most residents continue to rely on private cars for daily commutes. Private cars remain the most used mode of transport for several reasons, including the insufficient public transport network to meet the demands of Riga's growing population and the needs of commuters traveling from distant areas to the city centre. In fact, from the 86,000 people that commute into Riga’s city centre every day, 42% use public transport and only 3.45% use a bicycle (Riga Commuting Master Plan, 2019).
As a result, Riga continues to experience considerable congestion and substantial noise and air pollution, which hinders the goal set out by Riga City Council in its Development Strategy 2021-27 to reduce carbon emission by 22%, and overall moves away from the wider EU objective to promote more liveable cities.
In addition, there are specific active mobility issues that detract residents from using such types of transport. For example, there is little work done in road infrastructure to guarantee safe journeys for cyclists, resulting in cyclists often using the sidewalk due to a lack of cycling lanes. Moreover, residents often complain about theft and vandalism, which results in users being reluctant to use a bike for fear of it being stolen.
The Solution
Given Riga’s challenge, the Riga City Council and NOVALITY have teamed up to deliver a smart micromobility solution that serves both as a parking facility and as storage lockers that can store both bicycles and scooters and personal belongings.
The facility also serves as a charging point for electric bicycles and e-scooters, which addresses users' request of delivering more charging points.
The parking facility, powered by solar panels, allows for it to be located anywhere, as it does not require electric power operating at all times. The locker design was also developed to maximise its space and have as little impact as possible on the surrounding environment.
Additionally, users can easily know whether there is locker capacity by using the associated app, which also allows to pre-book a space. This technology has proved to be efficient for users that leave their bicycles overnight and want to keep it in a safe location.
Lastly, the data compiled through NOVALITY’s app and the lockers’ usage could be of great use to the City Council for enhanced data management, being able to provide the local authority with a better understanding of residents' mobility flows and therefore where future lockers may be adequately located. NOVALITY has also expressed that this solution could become integrated into the public transport network with the same tariffs applied, which can promote multimodality and an easier experience.
