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The provision of public transport is important for a sustainable society and is vital for many groups. Children, older people, and people from carless households are examples of such groups: they rely on public transport and risk social exclusion without it. The aim of this study is to identify areas in Sweden where an improved public transport system might enhance social sustainability. To this end, an index of public transport needs at a sub-municipality level was calculated along with an index of public transport provision using data from public transport authorities in Sweden. The results indicate that areas with a mismatch between the provision of and estimated demand for public transport are relatively heterogenous. High gaps exist both in rural and peripheral regions of Sweden as well as the suburbs of urban regions. © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Sweden has since the end of the 1990s, when the environmental objective system was adopted, had the ambitionof being an environmental frontrunner. In line with this, in 2009 the Parliament adopted the goal of achieving afossil free vehicle fleet in 2030. Replacing private car use with public transport is expected to contribute to thisgoal. In 2008, a co-operation between actors in the public transport sector was launched with support from theGovernment with the aim to double its use. Sweden however is a country with important geographical differ-ences. Much of the country is sparsely populated, especially in the north. From previous research it is well knownthat usage of public transport is dependent on population density and accessibility to employment and schools.Understanding how spatial differences influence the cost of public transport provision is therefore crucial whendiscussing if public transport is a cost-efficient way to achieve national goals for the transport sector. In thispaper, Swedish county level panel data, including variables that provide information on geographical differencesbetween the counties, have been used to estimate average marginal costs of boardings. Results show that theseare much lower in the three counties with the largest urbanized areas. In the other counties there is a variationwhich illustrates that there are a number of factors that influence the average marginal costs. In relation to policy, we find that the doubling ambition established in 2008 has not been achieved.

This report provides a brief explanation of the MIRANDA tool and its links to the D.U.GIS platform. The report also presents system components and data sources used within the MIRANDA tool.

The starting point for the development of the MIRANDA tool has been the call for better understanding of the scale and scope of tourism at the local and regional levels. The purpose of the MIRANDA project was to develop a micro-based decision support to be used by public planners for more efficient and sustainable decisions regarding infrastructure investments in connection with destination development.

This report gives a brief introduction to the project before starting out with an overview of the MIRANDA-tool’s software architecture. This is followed by a description of the Coding languages, a section giving information on the Class libraries, as well as the type of data used. Following this are two sections describing APIs and the system model, before a final section concludes by giving an outlook for future development options for the MIRANDA tool.

Mobility planning in rural areas with a high number of tourists is important for creating sustainable destinations. By identifying mobility gaps in the transportation system, measures to improve the situation can be implemented. In order to identify such mobility gaps, decision-makers need a spatial decision support system (SDSS). The aim of this paper is to identify vital aspects of creating such an SDSS and to build a prototype. Two important aspects were identified, data and system design. The result of the analysis of available data shows a lack of data portals with disaggregated socio-economic and intradestination travel data. Further, it shows that data on points of interest (POI) and public transit data are primarily found in company databases. The system design analysis showed that most SDSS today are relying on public data and are not designed to integrate disparate data sources. They are primarily developed to be used by experts. Based on these findings an SDSS that automatically integrates both public and private data was developed. It comprises a self-hosted web mapping system and several geospatial tools. Our main conclusion is that both data and system design are important aspects to consider when building an SDSS for mobility planning. By using the architecture proposed in this article, new data can easily be incorporated in an SDSS. Furthermore, the system design also facilitates the involvement of stakeholders in the planning process. © 2022. by the authors. All Rights Reserved.

Denna rapport presenterar en sammanfattning av resultat från projektet Mikrobaserade beslutsstöd för hållbart turismresande och infrastruktur-planering (Miranda). Utgångspunkten har varit de oklarheter och de svårigheter som finns i att uppskatta turismen och besöksnäringens storlek och struktur på regional nivå.

Mirandaverktyget är ett mikrobaserat beslutsstödsystem för hållbar turism- och infrastrukturplanering som består av två delar, dels en teknisk plattform där flera datakällor som beskriver turismvolymer sammanförs för att kunna beräkna och presentera turismens ekonomiska effekter, dels en processmetodik för hur datakällorna samlas in och vilka aktörer i planeringssystemet som behöver samverka.

Syftet med texten är att ge en lättillgänglig beskrivning av vad Mirandaverktyget gör, vilka aktörer som kan använda det och hur den nya kunskap som Mirandaverktyget producerar kan användas i praktiken.

Sammanfattningsvis konstateras i rapporten att Mirandaverktyget i dagsläget är på dess första nivå av utveckling och att det redan nu är möjligt med ett antal analyser såsom:

·  en geografisk analys av turismens intressepunkter för en valfri destination/testområde i Sverige

·  en presentation av företag och dess ekonomi för ett urval av turistnäringens SNIs

·  uppskattningar av turismens volymer för ett valfritt studieområde

·  beskrivning av turistnäringens storlek och struktur från producentsidan och konsumentsidan

·  beskriva ekonomiska effekter av besöksnäringen och enskilda evenemang

·  initiera processer för samverkan mellan såväl privata aktörer som olika offentliga nivåer för turism-och infrastrukturplanering

Framtida utvecklingsbehov för Mirandaverktyget ligger främst inom datakvalitétsförbättringar, kalibrering av indata, visualisering och dashboard samt särskild utveckling av vissa delar (fartkameradelen samt en för scenariobyggande).

Tourism growth on the national level in Sweden is being concentrated to the three main urban centres. The question is if the same trend is discernible within Swedish regions. If so, tourism as a tool in regional transformation and for alleviating spatial disparities has a weak basis. The strategy to strengthen the competitiveness of each region/local community based on the Tourism Led Growth Hypothesis but is questioned. Urban hierarchy and centrifugal forces are often overlooked. Data on overnight stays between 2008 and 2016 are analysed for four regions in central Sweden: Dalarna, Värmland, Gävleborg, and Jämtland. Results indicate that there is an ongoing concentration to regional urban centres and that destination competitiveness is directly linked to an urban supremacy. Thus, tourism growth is primarily a concern for urban areas and, which contradicts the traditional notions of tourism policy in Sweden, where tourism is regarded as a remedy for declining regions.

This report summarizes activities within the overarching InterReg project MARA – Mobility and Accessibility in Rural areas, by the two Swedish partners Swedish Transport Authority ( henceforth, Trafikverket) and Dalarna University. The overall purpose of the InterReg project was to improve the accessibility and mobility in touristic remote areas of the Baltic Sea Region by increasing the capacity of transport actors. The Swedish case in the MARA consisted of two parts: one looked to improve integrated mobility planning for the boarder region Sälen in Sweden and Trysil in Norway, and the other sought to develop GIS based maps to assist in transport planning. 

The first part, the processes related to the Trafikverket planning method, Strategic Choice of Measures (SCM), was studied with the help of previous R&D and own interviews. The SCM is looked into from different perspectives, such as gender, regional development, financing, cultural clashes, and chain of command, thus identifying problems in the process and discussing countermeasures, all using the Sälen and Åre as specific case areas. 

The second part highlighted mobility demand analysis using survey data collected on-site in Sälenfjällen, 2020 as well as mobility GAP analysis using a newly developed tool D.U.GIS for the Sälen case area. Furthermore, an innovative use of Public Participation GIS (PPGIS) was included as part of the on-site survey as a test on the methods ability to collect data that could improve the early-stage planning processes of Trafikverket’s SCM method.

There are three key findings from the Swedish activities in the MARA-project. First, the maps produced by D.U.GIS can be used as analytical support in the planning process to better visualize a current mobility situation and mobility GAPs. Second, the piloting of PPGIS to improve on early-stage planning process showed potential, especially for pointing out gender differences. However, the study was conducted using a small sample and further research is needed to fully assess its potential. Third, the study of SCM identified problems in the process and discussed important issues such as early interplay between stakeholders, flexible way of working together, and continuity of the process. The study also highlighted perspectives on knowledge and competence development.

Denna rapport sammanfattar den svenska fallstudien inom InterReg projektet MARA (Mobility and Accessibility in Rural areas – Mobilitet och tillgänglighet i landsbygdsområden) inom vilket Trafikverket och Högskolan Dalarna har samverkat i genomförande. Det övergripande syftet inom projektet var att förbättra tillgänglighet och mobilitet i områden med turism utanför storstäderna inom Östersjöregionen genom att förbättra kapaciteten hos transportsystemets aktörer. Den svenska fallstudien inom MARA-projektet bestod av två delar: den ena handlade om att förbättra den integrerade mobilitetsplaneringen inom gränsområdet Sälen i Sverige och Trysil i Norge. Den andra delen syftade till att utveckla GIS baserade kartor till hjälp för transportplaneringen. 

Den första delen fokuserade på planeringsprocesser kopplade till Trafikverkets Åtgärdsvalsstudie (ÅVS), vilken studerades med hjälp av tidigare forskning och intervjubaserad metod. Med utgångspunkt i fallstudieområdena Sälen och Åres studerades processer kopplade till ÅVS utifrån ett antal perspektiv, såsom genus; regional utveckling; finansiering; kulturkrockar samt styrning- och ledningsstruktur, i syfte att identifiera problem i processen men också att diskutera möjliga förbättringar.

Den andra delen studerade efterfrågan på mobilitet med hjälp av enkätdata insamlad på plats i Sälenfjällen under 2020 och 2021, samt genomförde en s.k. mobilitets-GAP-analys med hjälp av den nyutvecklade D.U.GIS-verktyget, också det med Sälenfjällen som fallstudieområde. Därutöver genomfördes en innovativ användning av metoden Public Participation GIS (PPGIS) som en del av datainsamlingen på plats. Detta som ett test av metodens användbarhet för att samla in data som skulle kunna användas och ses som en förbättring av de s.k. tidiga skedena i Trafikverkets ÅVS planeringsprocess.   

Tre huvudsakliga resultat kan dras från den svenska fallstudien inom MARA-projektet. För det första så kan de kartor som skapats av D.U.GIS användas som ett analytiskt stöd i planeringsprocess genom att bättre visualisera nuläget för en mobilitetssituation samt mobilitets-GAP i densamma. För det andra så visar pilotstudien med PPGIS-metoden potential i att förbättra de tidiga skedena i planeringsprocessen, och då särskilt möjligheten att analysera genus och särskilda intressentgruppers behov. Studien använde ett litet urval av respondenter och ytterligare forskning behövs för att fullt ut utvärdera potentialen i metoden. För det tredje, studiet av ÅVS identifierade ett antal brister i processen och diskuterade frågor såsom tidigt samspel mellan aktörer, ett flexibelt sätt att arbeta tillsammans, samt kontinuitet i processen. Delstudien lyfte även de perspektiv gällande synen på kunskap samt kompetensutveckling. 

Abstract

The tourism sector is growing in importance for the Swedish economy. However this growth is not uniformly distributed within the country and this in turn leads to an uneven distribution of tourism activity between regions as well as between rural and urban areas. In a previous study it is concluded that the growth of bed nights between 2000 and 2010 is concentrated to the three larger urban regions in Sweden. The substantial growth of tourism in Sweden is therefore mainly a big city phenomenon, which is in sharp contrast to the picture entertained by policy makers and government officials. Tourism is regarded and promoted as a universally applicable tool when it comes to develop rural areas or regions in need for alternative job opportunities when traditional occupations are phased out. 

This study addresses the question of redistribution within the regions. The question in focus is if the tendency of concentration of bed nights follows the same pattern within the regions as on the national level, i.e. if concentration increases over time. It is also of interest to identify those destinations, which deviate from the main pattern and to scrutinize the how they, achieve sustainable or at least long term competitiveness.

An analysis is based on data collected by statistics Sweden and the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth. Data on overnight stays in commercial establishments were derived on local level between 2008 and 2016 for four regions in central Sweden; Dalarna, Värmland, Gävleborg and Jämtland. This data set makes it possible to make a longitudinal (annual) analysis of the redistribution of bed nights in detail. The concentration was analysed based on a calculation of the locational quotient and the corresponding locational coefficient, which relates concentration of tourism to that of the population on municipal level.

A preliminary analysis of the data indicates a similar pattern as on the national level; i.e. there is a strong on-going concentration to regional urban centres indicating the presence of an urban supremacy. In other words, tourism growth is primarily a concern for urban areas rather than it being beneficial to rural development. This result contradicts the traditional notions in Sweden where tourism is regarded as a saviour for declining regions.