Good examples of the municipal transport turnaround wanted!

Problem

Transport pollutes the environment and the climate through greenhouse gases, noise and air pollutants and land consumption. A holistic view of the transport sector against the backdrop of climate protection targets is essential in order to drive forward the transport transition. There are many solutions and planning approaches for urban areas, although these are often not tailored to small and medium-sized municipalities and rural areas. This is where the action plan for mobility, climate and noise protection comes in.

Solution

With the help of climate protection-oriented transport planning, the state of Baden-Württemberg supports small and medium-sized municipalities, urban and rural districts in becoming active in climate protection in the transport sector. A holistic approach is chosen, which is necessary to achieve the climate protection targets in transport. The guidelines for the action plan for mobility, climate and noise protection build on current planning practices and are based on the SUMP guidelines.

Problem

Many private individuals still use their own car within the city. The neighbourhood stations are intended to make it easier to switch from cars to sustainable mobility alternatives by making them available "on your doorstep". This should structurally reduce the need to own a car and bring about a sustainable change in mobility behaviour in line with the mobility transition.

Solution

A broad network of neighbourhood stations has already been created and will be expanded across the board in the coming years. The provision of mobility services directly in the neighbourhood makes it easier for residents to switch to sustainable mobility alternatives and raises awareness of the mobility transition. This can already be seen in the high usage figures and utilisation rates at neighbourhood stations as well as the positive response.

Problem

In the Neustadt-Neuschönefeld and Volkmarsdorf neighbourhoods, the population has grown significantly by 33%. This development is leading to signs of overuse and density conflicts in the neighbourhoods. In addition, the residential population is increasingly burdened by a higher volume of traffic. Space for vulnerable population groups is becoming increasingly scarce. There is often not enough space for children and families, as the available space is predominantly occupied by motorised traffic.

Solution

Our approach to coping with population growth and increased traffic consists of urban design and traffic law measures to reduce through traffic and redesign the space for residential and commercial use. In 2023, a traffic trial was successfully co-produced and a major expansion is planned for both neighbourhoods in 2024. However, as Germany is not Spain, there are many hurdles and problems to overcome.

Problem

The JOBWÄRTS programme helps to prevent traffic jams in the region; every traffic jam has a negative impact on the environment, air quality and climate, and costs people time. In addition to the high daily traffic density, especially in the morning and evening peak hours, the expansion of the federal trunk road network (A 59, A 565 and new construction of the Tausendfüßler) is expected to cause considerable disruption for years to come.

Solution

As Bonn is facing major challenges due to the increasing volume of traffic, particularly in commuter traffic, JOBWÄRTS wants to motivate as many people as possible to switch to bicycles, buses and trains. To this end, JOBWÄRTS offers a concept that includes, for example, a mobility analysis and the organisation of mobility test weeks at employers. There are around 60,000 employees in the programme and 7,843 participants have taken part in the JOBWÄRTS mobility test weeks since 2019.

Problem

Accompanying mobility measures are intended to encourage road users to change their behaviour and reduce traffic at peak times, especially commuter traffic. The aim is to create capacity for journeys that cannot be shifted. Increased mobility management and the associated expansion of services during construction measures should also bring about a lasting change in mobility behaviour and contribute to the traffic turnaround.

Solution

Accompanying mobility measures were developed that can bring about a change in travel behaviour, specifically the avoidance of journeys, the postponement of journeys to off-peak times and the use of other means of transport. Target group-specific information and options, initially for the commuter target group, were developed and made available to a large target group by all those involved. The evaluation will be carried out during the lockdown.

Problem

As structures change, resistance to political decisions is becoming increasingly vocal. At the same time, there is a growing demand for greater public involvement in planning and approval processes. New forms of public participation open up numerous opportunities, but also harbour challenges. The aim of the project is to prepare and visualise existing BIM model information in such a way that it can be understood by the public.

Solution

As part of our research project, a BIM-based participation platform is being developed that enables the public to provide georeferenced and thematically sorted feedback. This feedback will then be made available to local authorities and planners via a Common Data Environment (CDE) so that it can be incorporated into further planning. This allows planning and authorisation procedures to be accelerated and made more citizen-friendly.

Problem

The residential location has a significant influence on mobility, so it is very important for owners to integrate innovative and sustainable mobility solutions into their entire property portfolio. From a social perspective, housing companies have a responsibility to create a sustainable mobility offering at the residential location. So how can housing companies promote a sustainable, future-oriented and user-optimised mobility transition?

Solution

To date, a strategy has been developed that forms the basis for ensuring smooth implementation, actively participating in the mobility transition and expanding the charging station infrastructure. The special feature is that, in addition to new construction, the solution approach primarily takes into account the equipment of the existing infrastructure.

Problem

Probably the most central challenge of the transport transition in Dresden is the goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2035. Emissions are to be reduced with sustainable and small-scale mobility solutions such as those offered by MOBI. Another challenge is the limited availability of space, especially in the city centre. MOBI products pursue the idea of "sharing instead of owning" and thus contribute to the more efficient use of public space.

Solution

MOBIbike, which is operated in cooperation with nextbike, is one of the most successful bike-sharing systems in Germany and recorded almost two million rentals in 2023 alone. The more than 1,500 bikes cover around 60% of the city's population. There are currently 450 car-sharing vehicles, almost 170 of which are parked at one of the MOBIpoints. The MOBIshuttle operates in four districts of Dresden and is becoming increasingly popular.

Problem

As in other rural regions, not all locations in the pilot region can be served all day by scheduled services, which results in an accessibility deficit and low mobility participation. The tight municipal budget situation leaves no room for manoeuvre for the development and operation of cost-intensive on-demand systems with area coverage. For this reason, existing journey capacities are to be upgraded and integrated into the public transport system.

Solution

A mobility platform is being developed in which taxis, private individuals and possibly also other fleet operators (e.g. social transport services) can offer journeys in addition to public transport. These complementary services are intended to serve as a feeder to public transport as far as possible and increase its utilisation. A key component of the project is the direct involvement of the public and transport providers through public relations and networking work in order to increase both supply and demand.

Problem

There is a tight timeframe for replacing the previous prioritisation of analogue and digital radio. The frequencies for analogue radio will be reallocated by the end of 2028. In addition, digital radio is too inflexible to adequately handle the complex traffic situations on Hamburg's roads. Hamburg has therefore opted for a new, innovative solution that enables reliable and efficient prioritisation: Cooperative Intelligent Traffic Systems (C-ITS).

Solution

As part of the ITS-CUBE project, Hamburg is investing in and developing an innovative bus priority system based on C-ITS technology. ITS-CUBE is funded by the European Investment Bank with 1.92 million euros and enables a comprehensive investment programme of 64 million euros. The first phase of the migration plan is already underway and up to 600 intersections and 2,000 buses in Hamburg are to be equipped with the new technology by 2030.

Problem

With its large share of public transport and the induced peak loads at school times, school transport is very vehicle- and driver-intensive and therefore cost-intensive. By over-planning the existing timetables, some of which have grown historically, while minimising resources, freed-up resources can be invested in a more attractive overall service or saved in view of the shortage of drivers and cost pressure. The central aim was also to improve the quality of the service, e.g. shorter journey times for schoolchildren.

Solution

School transport was optimised based on demand and supported by data, with a focus on the minimum number of necessary rotations and operational resources. The introduction of a possible staggered school timetable was also analysed and potential savings identified. Certain framework conditions are guaranteed for school transport, thus creating a more attractive service. The results form a basis for discussion with politicians and committees with the aim of transferring the programme into real operation.

Problem

Structural and climate change are increasing the need for sustainable and integrated urban development. A prerequisite for the success of such urban development is a comprehensive database that maps relevant local events and links external data spaces. This does not exist due to scarce municipal resources. The provision of relevant data for integrated urban planning and mobility concepts is critical to the success of a citizen-centred and sustainable transport transition.

Solution

Development of a new measurement concept and sensor technology for mobility and environmental data with the departments of urban planning, mobility and sustainability as well as the inclusion of other relevant stakeholders such as public transport, technical companies and the public order office as well as the development of applications based on an urban data platform. This enables better planning and the measurement of the success of measures, e.g. for needs-based mobility offers, charging infrastructure, conversion/utilisation of parking space, increasing road safety.

Problem

The mobility turnaround must be analysed with factual figures. Information on whether and how measures work and what influence they have on traffic volumes, the modal split and air quality has so far only been based on individual, time-limited, project-related observations and has therefore hardly been able to be seriously substantiated.

Solution

With MoCKiii, the detector-based traffic data from the city's traffic computer is utilised as a treasure trove of data. By purchasing floating car and mobile phone data and intersecting them appropriately, relevant traffic parameters such as the modal split, motorised private transport mileage, traffic quality, passenger volumes and air pollutant concentrations can be identified. These are recorded, visualised and summarised in regular status reports in the future.

Problem

Consideration of feedback from the public / affected citizens in connection with the connection of further districts to the light rail network to optimise the public transport service.

Problem

As part of a feasibility study, various route options for the light rail extension were developed, of which the preferred option and the associated reorganisation of the road space were presented to the public as part of the digital participation process. This led to lively participation. As local experts, citizens provided feedback with points of criticism and comments, which will be taken into account in the further planning process.

Problem

The challenge is to consider future requirements when rescheduling. It is not always possible to look at the entire network connections that arise in a large city - gaps in the network cannot always be identified directly. This delays coordination and planning processes and does not lead to holistic consideration of all road users. Network development means that roads are allocated to future utilisation requirements. By creating target concepts that build on each other and are consistent with each other, it is ensured that the future significance of the road is taken into account in the re-planning, for example, and that the interests of the different modes of transport do not contradict each other.

Solutions

When creating the network, a wide variety of data and existing mobility concepts were brought together and care was taken to ensure that they are consistent for future re-planning. For example, the most important source and destination traffic was taken into account for the main cycle routes, as well as other concepts such as cycle commuter routes or concepts for motorised private transport. The result is a continuous main cycle network including cycle lanes. A number of measures have already been implemented, such as the Cologne Rings, the East-West Axis and the North-South Journey, where gaps in the network are gradually being closed in line with the existing main cycle route networks.