The fifth partner meeting in the metropolitan area of Szczecin was a success! Many workshops for the exchange of ideas and experience about how to tackle the "last mile" in touristic areas as well as interesting good practices were on the programme.
A narrow-gauge railway with nearly 150 000 passengers per year and a combined bike rental system in Rewal was the topic of the first study visit of the meeting. The enthusiasm of the participants reached new heights on the third day of the meeting: in the morning an additional bike rental system on the coast of the Baltic Sea was presented. The ‘BalticBike’ system has around 40 000 users, mainly thanks to its customer-friendly services. In this way, ‘BalticBike’ raised the number of bicycles from 20 in 2009 to 900 to date. The fleet currently includes bikes for adults, children and e-bikes. For the moment the only users are tourists, so the provider is currently evaluating how to make it profitable for residents in the off -season.
Focus topic was "seasonality", which occupies the local partners specifically due to the characteristics of tourism in that region ... workshop on how to overcome the challenges of mobility management in regions with seasonal peak and off-peak periods...
In the afternoon of this third day, partners and stakeholders had a special experience in Wolin (PL). In the Slavs and Vikings Centre in Wolin, a visit of the open-air museum, typical food from that time and from the region as well as a presentation with an LCD projector just near the open fire in a Viking house were on the programme. In that special atmosphere, a workshop dealing with the action plan development showed the first results and led to many exchanges and discussions between the partners.
The Policy and experience exchange process bears already fruits: the partners have already collected Many ideas for the action plan. The extension of a bike rental system and the launch of a fast bus line during summer season, like the good practice visited in Varna, were on the programme for the Slovakian partners. Partners from East Tyrol were inspired by the good practice visited in Luxembourg, the ‘Bummelbus’, meanwhile in Catalonia, partners are working on the idea of connecting the existing train with on-demand stops from Lleida to La Pobla de Segur with a Dial-a-bus-service to the National Parks in the High Pyrenees. The workshop dealt with many more projects, showing that the work on the regional action plans is not only just starting but is already in full swing. One year is now left, then the regional action plans must be completed and ready for implementation. So there is only one thing left to say: let’s travel the last mile together!
