Research focus of sustainable mobility

The mobility sector plays a central role in the context of energy consumption and CO₂ emissions and is one of the most relevant fields for implementing sustainable consumption (German Bundestag 1998, p. 9). The information systems for the promotion of sustainable mobility can be categorised in the transdisciplinary research field of mobility management and, in their information technology form, in corporate environmental information systems (BUIS). The following three dimensions of sustainable mobility form the core of the research activities. This includes electromobility and the associated sector coupling. The promotion of the environmental network through systems of sales-integrated environmental protection. Finally, the information systems for end customers (e.g. in the form of mobile applications for travel planning and assistance) as well as new systems or the expansion of existing systems with sustainability-relevant aspects on the part of mobility providers, e.g. within customer relationship management (CRM) as part of mobility management to reduce CO₂ emissions in the transport sector.

The topic of sustainable mobility has been dealt with at the chair since 2010. Based on the results of the student project groups, a first prototype for multimodal travel planning was developed, taking sustainability aspects into account, including integration into operational application systems from the CRM and BI sectors. This prototype serves as the starting point for numerous final theses and other project groups, which focus in particular on the development of analytical information systems to support sustainable mobility. In addition to the purely academic work on the topic, various co-operation projects have been initiated and completed at the chair. For example, a travel information system designed to support electromobility was developed as part of the IKTS sub-project within the customer-orientated mobility work package in the Lower Saxony Showcase for Electromobility project (2013-2016) funded by the German government. Furthermore, the ERDF project ReCaB - Regional Car Balancing, which particularly addressed the topic of car sharing offers from car dealerships, was successfully completed. The NEMo project (Sustainable fulfilment of mobility needs in rural areas), which was launched in 2016, currently forms the core of the research activities. The focus of research activities in NEMo is on the introduction of carpooling in rural areas. This topic is being addressed in theinstaride research project and integrated directly into the vehicles on the basis of blockchain technology using smart contracts. Furthermore, approaches to sector coupling between energy and mobility are being investigated in the ELogZ research project (energy supply concept for climate-neutral logistics centres).

Other research projects on the topic of sustainable mobility are focussing on bicycle mobility. The Interreg-funded BITS (Bicycles and Intelligent Transport Systems) project, which aims to bring together all smart cycling solutions in a transnational context, provides a comprehensive framework. Various intelligent transport systems already exist in the North Sea region, such as bicycle apps, intelligent traffic lights and digital bicycle parking, specifically for cycling. Regions (Germany, Great Britain) that have not been actively promoting cycling for a long time should learn from regions such as the Netherlands, Belgium or Denmark with their decades of experience in expanding cycling infrastructure. In the project, the VLBA will merge existing with newly generated data sets on cycling as part of a newly developed CycleDataHub in order to make relevant cycling data available to all interested stakeholders centrally on an open data basis. In the ECOSense feasibility study, a sensor system to be attached directly to the bicycle is being developed and implemented. The VLBA will enrich the data sets generated in the project with other suitable data sets in order to gain new insights into bicycle use in everyday life. The results are to be utilised for the expansion and upgrading of cycling infrastructure, among other things. The soon-to-be-launched SmartHelm project is also focussing on bicycle traffic, but with a particular focus on inner-city deliveries using cargo bikes. The project aims to develop an attention-sensitive bicycle helmet that will provide comprehensive support for bicycle couriers in their work. The helmet, which is equipped with EEG sensors, is combined with augmented reality (AR) glasses, which provide the rider with all relevant information about the addresses to be travelled to and the goods to be delivered. A multilingual language module is also part of the SmartHelm system. This translates information transmitted by voice into the language of the courier driver.

Central partners in the projects are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), start-ups, larger companies, municipalities and districts, research institutions such as the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) and associations. In addition, numerous contributions have been published since 2010 and presented at scientific conferences, various workshops and scientific journals.

Research projects

• SmartHelm (2019 - 2022)
• mOOWVe - Mobility management in rural areas using the example of an area supplier (2020 - 2023)
• ELogZ - Energy supply concept for climate-neutral logistics centres (2019 - 2022)
• instaride - Development of an innovative ride-hailing solution (2019 - 2021)
• SuMoCoS - Sustainability and mobility in the context of smart cities (2019)
• ECOSense - Collection and analysis of cycling data to support infrastructure optimisation (2019 - 2020)
• BITS - Bicycles and Intelligent Transport Systems (2019 - 2022)
• NEMo - Sustainable fulfilment of mobility needs in rural areas (2016 - 2020)
• Lower Saxony showcase for electric mobility - Sub-project IKTS - Work package Customer-orientated mobility(2013-2016)
• ReCaB - Regional Car Balancing (06/2014 - 11/2014)

PhD projects

• Conception of a fleet management system for the marketing of customised mobility services (Alexander Sandau)
• Conception of a Sustainability Customer Relationship Management (SusCRM) for providers of sustainable mobility. Shaker Verlag, Aachen. (Dr Wagner vom Berg)

Teaching

• NEMo Seminar (WS 18/19)
• Seminar on increasing efficiency in public transport (2015)
• Research presentations in the course Mobile Commerce

Project groups

• Bicycle Data (2020)
• RAPID - Regional Analysis and Prediction Platform by In-memory Data (2014/2015)
• Cuberunner (2012/2013)
• Sustainability CRM for (E-)Mobility Services with SOA (2010/2011)

Contact person

• Johannes Schering

References

• German Bundestag (1998): Sustainability concept - From mission statement to implementation. Final report of the Enquête Commission "Protection of Man and the Environment". Universitäts-Buchdruckerei, Bonn.