10109583Transforming Rural Bus Shelters into Modular Mobility HubsClosedDemonstratorInnovate UKThis project will test the feasibility of redesigning rural bus shelters as modular mobility hubs, specifically in East Lothian, but with global potential. The project is a collaboration between East Lothian Council, design house Quarterre, and transport decarbonisation research organization Cenex. East Lothian is an ideal location for this project. Predominantly rural, it has a good bus service which is underused and poorly served by its supporting infrastructure such as bus shelters, and it is re-tendering its bus shelter contract. It has a published strategy to create a network of mobility hubs to make it easier to access sustainable travel options, and especially to function as attractive entry points into the bus network. Much of East Lothian is also a conservation area, making good design a necessity. East Lothian's mobility hub strategy is linked firmly to their Net Zero strategy, recognising that transport contributes most to emissions in the area. Elsewhere, most work on mobility hubs has been focused on urban areas, but it is likely that their emissions reduction potential is greater in rural areas. Rural trips are on average longer and more likely made by car. Users of mobility hubs in urban areas often exchange one non-car mode for another, but hubs that improve access to rural bus routes are more likely to shift car journeys to public transport, and thus achieve greater emissions savings. The project will start with a long list of potential mobility hub sites prepared in earlier work. The project team will identify a shortlist of three suitable and representative sites for testing the modular concept within East Lothian. Cenex will lead engagement with the local community to gather their ideas, and Quarterre will carry out detailed design work, then the team will take the designs and plans back to the community to co-create an ideal solution. The key deliverables from the project will be a set of designs for innovative bus shelters with a set of additional modular elements that can be 'bolted on' to the base shelter. In addition, the project will produce estimates of the benefits of rolling these shelters out, both likely emissions savings and social benefits from the placemaking opportunity they present. These will be included in a guide for other local authorities on best practice for replicating the approach, and an overall final report on all aspects of the project will be submitted to IUK.