Sustainable mobility for tourists at the Dutch Coastal Islands (Waddeneilanden)

Abstract

The European Coastal Islands around the North sea, are joined together in a project that stimulates sustainable development. Within this 'Cradle-to-Cradle Islands' project, some islands were selected as breading grounds for potentially sustainable projects. One of these projects was the development of a device for transport: the “Vrachtfiets”. A Vrachtfiets is a modular electric-assisted, two person, cargo-bicycle that enables the creation of custom made mobility solutions. The design of the Vrachtfiets includes a Product-Service System (PSS) as an integral solution to both local transport needs and transport needs to and from the island Ameland Currently, the majority of the tourist families take their cars to the island (by ferry), since the hassle of carrying luggage is too much to use the public transport system (local busses). For these tourists, a PSS has been designed that provides them with an alternative to transport themselves, their family and their luggage between the ferry and the holiday park without a car. This reduces the amount of cars on Ameland, saves tourists their money and creates a unique and fun experience. Eco-Costs and the Eco-Costs/Value Ratio (EVR) have been used to assess the sustainability of the Vrachtfiets PSS. It can be concluded that approximately 90 Vrachtfiets movements can be made for each car movement in terms of Eco-Costs. EVR calculations indicate that the value based eco-efficiency is around 16 times better, compared to tourists using cars. PSS and C2C aspects were taken into account.