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Mobility turnaround - wish or reality?
Comprehensive changes in people's behavior are necessary for the mobility of tomorrow (photo credit: iStock©Wenjie_Dong).
Digitization, sustainability and sharing economy
Digitization, sustainability and sharing economy - there has been a lot of talk lately about a rapid change in people's mobility behavior. How does this fit in with the continued steady global growth in motorized individual transport?
Prof. Dr. Andreas Knie: At first glance, it is of course true that motorized individual transport is steadily increasing. However, we are dealing here with a "contradictory phenomenon". Because on the one hand, everything is being done to bring more and more cars onto the market - reasons for this are the cheap fuel worldwide, tax benefits for diesel vehicles and so on. On the other hand, the loss of function of cars is becoming more and more apparent, especially in urban areas. The short journey from A to B by car has sometimes become quite arduous. Moreover, cars function less and less as a differentiator.
Electrification: the solution to traffic problems?
Electrification is being touted as a possible solution to our traffic problems. Do we really create less traffic with electric cars and two-wheelers - or are they simply bought in addition to the existing fleet?
Prof. Dr. Andreas Knie: People who have an electric vehicle drive less with it and use more other modes of transport instead. Therefore, electric vehicles definitely lead to fewer passenger kilometers. One difficulty is that these different devices are not consistently intermodally linked. Currently, there are 45 million cars on the market in Germany. In perspective, using a mix of hydrogen-electric cars for long distances and battery-powered car-sharing vehicles for shorter distances, about 25 million electric cars would be enough to cover the traffic volume in Germany.
How do we achieve a mobility turnaround?
You are a sociologist. What behavioral changes must take place among people to achieve a real mobility turnaround?
Prof. Dr. Andreas Knie: To achieve our climate goals, traffic must be massively reduced. According to the Agora Verkehrswende team, 40 percent of the savings must be achieved by changing human behavior. One challenge here is that we have been taught to use cars as part of our private happiness. In Germany, there is more than one car registered for every resident entitled to drive. Do we really need that for our mobility? Moreover, the car is increasingly reaching its limits as a functional element. The new element for functional differentiation has long been the smartphone. It intelligently links intermodal transport chains and combines them into a customer-friendly mobility benefit. "Lead-User-Tun" will also lead to a change in people's behavior via its degree of innovation.
Experimental spaces for the mobility of tomorrow
The "Mobility Turnaround" alliance is calling, among other things, for large-scale experimental spaces for the mobility of tomorrow - what do they think such an experimental space could look like?
Prof. Dr. Andreas Knie: We in Germany tend yes to a strong regulation of our traffic, our society, indeed our lives. In principle, we should allow ourselves to try out more - for example, the possibilities of the mobile Internet in terms of worker flexibility. Transferred to experimental spaces for mobility, this means suspending at least one of the current regulations. Free parking for electric car sharers that draw 100 percent green electricity would be one possible measure. Of course, the whole thing would then have to be accompanied scientifically. One goal could be to create a social practice that lasts beyond the test phase and subsequently also changes laws. In my opinion, however, there is no ideal experimental space.