Completed projects

Listed below are the projects already carried out on the topic of sustainable mobility at HFU, as well as the related scientific publications.

• Internal link opens in the same window:User-oriented optimization of transport services (NorOvA)
• Internal link opens in the same window:Sustainable mobility at rural universities

The NorOvA "User-oriented optimisation of transport services" project, carried out in partnership between HFU and the Verkehrsbund Schwarzwald-Baar GmbH (VSB) (period 01.04.2019 to 31.10.2021), developed digital tools to survey and evaluate the mobility needs of specific user groups - also with a view to optimising existing transport services in local public transport.

As part of this project, an app for collecting movement data was developed, among other things, which made it possible to independently record actual mobility. The core of the app is the anonymous and privacy-compliant recording of movement data (route recognition). By analysing this data, conclusions can be drawn about the existing public transport services as well as the need for sharing services and carpooling, and more suitable services can then be developed and gaps closed.

In addition to the NorOvA app, a separate analysis tool was developed as well as the NorOvA bus tracking app.

Through the developed core elements, analysis possibilities were developed as a basis for insights into the modal split, or for example the evaluation of arbitrary routes, the detection of streets with high traffic load and the presentation of regularities. In general, speed, position and the derived movement profile act as criteria for modal recognition. This can be done by taking into account actual data for planning and analysis, thus offering high transferability to other (rural) areas and avoiding non-user oriented planning.

NorOvA is a demonstrator project and brings a high transferability to other, especially rural areas. The developed tools serve as a flexible open-source data source in the field of public transport and the tools can be widely used to identify mobility needs, especially by individual public transport passengers, businesses, transport companies and municipalities.

The model project "Sustainable Mobility Initiatives for Students and Staff of rural Universities" (January 2016 to 31 March 2019) dealt with the mobility situation of the participating universities.  In summer semester 2016 an online needs analysis was carried which served as the basis for our new mobility strategy.

The project was coordinated and headed by Prof. Dr. Jochen Baier (WI) and Prof. Dr. Anton Karle (WING).

Other universities involved were: Cooperative State University of Baden-Württemberg, Villingen-Schwenningen, Trossingen University of Music

Project aims:

• Improved public transport: customized to university timetables and needs, local bus service connections
• E-service vehicles: post service, commuting between locations for lectures and meetings
• E-carsharing: electric vehicles to supplement public transport
• Increase of ridesharing: support through use of app for PC and smartphone
• Use of e-bikes: extension of charging infrastructure and parking spaces
• Intermodality: integration of public transport, carsharing and ridesharing in an app for PC and smartphone

Starting point
Universities in rural areas are very important in binding younger, well-educated people to rural areas. They account for a high level of knowledge transfer to rural SMEs contributing to the sustainable supply of skilled employees and thus ultimately to the secure future of our rural areas. The retention of attractive rural university locations must therefore remain central to rural strategy. This includes taking into account the mobility needs of students attending such universities.

Young people have particular mobility needs. They want to be mobile even without a car of their own and want to reach their destination as quickly, cheaply and as simply as possible. It is therefore no accident that the carsharing options which are now well-established in cities are almost exclusively used by young people, who additionally use well-organized public transport systems. Students at rural universities without their own car often encounter difficulties with mobility as generally the public transport system is unsatisfactory, and until now carsharing in rural areas  was only available in certain selected areas as part of a model project. Taking Furtwangen University as an example, solutions for a unified, innovative mobility strategy will be developed and examined. Important aspects such as the optimal connection of existing and future mobility options specifically related to target groups will be integrated into the design on the basis of a solid needs analysis.

A further aspect of the model project is related to the specific mobility demands of the two other universities in the region, the Cooperative State University of Baden-Württemberg in Villingen-Schwenningen and the Trossingen University of Music. These demands will also be analyzed and customized solutions will be developed and examined. The approaches worked out will then be checked for viability and integrated into a unified strategy.