"Mobility Future Laboratory 2050" of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)MOBITAT – Living and working 2050 – sustainable mobility for commuters of the future

The core theme of the MOBITAT 2050 project is the sustainable design of commuter mobility in the region of the future.

The project is carried out in the Frankfurt-Rhein-Main metropolitan region, as commuter flows are of great importance in that region. MOBITAT 2050 strives for an integrated approach for researching the areas of mobility, living and working, as their interplay essentially determines commuting behavior.

The aim of the project is to develop an analytical model with which the effects of digitization and automation on commuting can be analyzed in depth, taking into account choices on where to live and work. Based on this, innovative mobility solutions to achieve greater sustainability shall be developed. 

To achieve this, the project will design a model which simultaneously analyses living and workplace locations and which will be coupled with the existing transport model of the region (VDRM).

In addition, a methodology for evaluating ecological and socio-economic sustainability issues in urban mobility will be developed. At the same time, hard (e.g. infrastructure) and soft (acceptance-increasing) mobility solutions to promote sustainable behaviors will be designed using behavioral insights.

The model will assess the effects of these solutions as well as other digitized and automated developments and concepts in the areas of mobility, living and working. The effects of various developments will then be analyzed using a comprehensive sustainability assessment.

Based on this, solutions for a sustainable region of the future are drafted with the active involvement of regional companies and planning authorities.

The implementation of MOBITAT 2050 starts with numerous preparatory research activities in the areas of living / working, automation and digitization of the transport system, as well as evidence-based behavioral research and sustainability assessments.

MOBITAT 2050 is carried out in seven work packages:

• Work package 1: analysis and description of living and workplace locations,
• Work package 2: analysis and description of the transport system,
• Work package 3: involvement of actors and regional processes,
• Work package 4: development of innovative mobility solutions,
• Work package 5: assessment of the effects of the solutions,
• Work package 6: sustainability assessment, and
• Work package 7: the development of recommendations for action.

In the work packages 1 and 2, ConPolicy will prepare a detailed analysis of existing findings in the behavioral science literature, as well as support a first empirical study with a survey and focus groups.

In work package 4, ConPolicy is responsible for ensuring that the innovative mobility measures developed are sensibly designed from a behavioral point of view.

In work package 5, ConPolicy will conduct behavioral experiments to test the effectiveness of the solutions developed previously. The results will feed into the overall analytic model.

This project is funded within the framework of the Research for Sustainability Strategy (FONA) of the BMBF.