The objective of the CITA Project was to develop and test an advanced demand-responsive transport system for rural and inter-urban public passenger transport. With few exceptions the system has been based on existing communication and information technology and components.

The system aimed to increase public transport efficiency in areas with low transport demand and enhance conventional line services by on-line dispatching the bus route and "on demand" scheduling. Demand-responsive dispatching shall be integrated with "normal" dispatching in conventional line services, so that bus lines can operate under demand-responsive mode in rural areas while running as normal line buses in the urban stretch of their itineraries. Finally, the system should improve coordination between bus operators and integrate different transport media.

The system was designed as a tool able to dispatch (relatively) larger fleets efficiently with a small number of staff. In this way, system acquisition and operation costs were expected to cross the break-even point and provide a self-financing tool for highly automated bus services in a rural environment.

Handling larger fleets requires tools that those days demand-responsive systems did not provide, such as:

• scheduling systems
• electronic ticketing, credit/debit card
• computer-based accountancy of ticket sales
• comprehensive statistical analysis to supervise the efficiency of the lines
• on-line passenger information at major bus stops, thorough videotex and other media
• maintenance control systems.