Oct 27, 2020
Sharing mobility offers are spreading rapidly. They have the potential to enable flexible and individual mobility, are an alternative to private car ownership and a supplement to public transport. In an integrated and well-connected mobility system, Sharing Mobility can also contribute to social, environmentally friendly and efficient mobility.
Sharing is a widespread topic in the context of achieving climate targets. Therefore, AustriaTech deals with new mobility concepts and how they can be embedded in existing ones and is in constant exchange with representatives of cities and regions. The fact that sharing offers many opportunities was demonstrated not least last autumn when three companies won the "ITS Challenge" in the context of the State Prize for Mobility: Ummadum, Carployee and easymobil are examples of how sharing can be implemented in regions.
Corporate mobility can be made more sustainable by offering sharing solutions for the way to work. In the private sphere, the shared use of one's own vehicle can be promoted. Playful approaches such as mobility points, which can be used in local commerce, can support the use of environmentally friendly forms of mobility, for example.
In this context, mobility nodes that combine and integrate various mobility and sharing offers are also important. In this way, a sustainable route from A to B can be taken, because the use of different forms of mobility is made possible.
For users, sharing means cost and flexibility advantages. Sharing offers can help to cover the last mile efficiently and in many regions can be a useful addition to public transport. Expanding the range of services enables mobility without owning a car and can contribute to a reduction in overall traffic volume and thus to the development of a sustainable mobility system.
What building blocks does a sharing strategy need?
First of all, you need to understand why a sharing strategy is needed: The overall goal is to create a nationwide and publicly accessible offering. To achieve this, a uniform strategy is needed throughout Austria. This requires the establishment of a regular exchange between the federal government, the provinces, regions, cities, municipalities, and other stakeholders. The concrete building blocks that are needed to support the development of services are legal, strategic and also promotional aspects.
How can cities and municipalities intervene here?
Framework conditions can be created at national level. Cities and municipalities are needed for the concrete implementation and control of mobility offers. For example, they can issue guidelines for providers to control integration into the existing public transport system, the provision of space for mobility nodes, or the establishment of continuous monitoring. With every city, every region, and every community that joins in, we are getting a little closer to the goal of providing nationwide coverage.
Since one of the things sharing is all about is the environment - how must Car-Sharing be used to achieve positive environmental effects?
Car-Sharing should be taken into account in strategic planning as an instrument for creating a nationwide, publicly accessible mobility offer. Findings from TIM in Graz, as well as international studies, show that station-based Car-Sharing demonstrably reduces car ownership, reduces the overall number of trips, and also strengthens public transport.
- Lina Mosshammer, Team Leader Mobility Ecosystems
AustriaTech is involved in various projects dealing with sharing, such as Dynaxibility, MELINDA or the Urban Mobility Labs. In addition, AustriaTech works closely with the Austrian Association of Cities and Towns. This has resulted, for example, in the current series of webinars on climate protection and transport as part of villach.live.digital.
You can also read more about sharing, micromobility, and new mobility services in our annual report.
