Sustainable university traffic

Summary

A sustainable mobility plan has been implemented for the newly developed campus areas of the Technical University of Aachen. The measure aimed are reducing motorised trips and restricting parking at the new campus. Innovative consultation mechanisms has ensured active participation of students and teaching personnel in developing integrated and innovative mobility concepts. This has led to a comprehensive mobility plan for the new campus, a pedelec rental system and a business trip management system.

Implementing sustainable mobility

The newly developed campus areas of the Technical University of Aachen has been developed into a sustainable mobility campus. The plan has been implemented following the city’s Mobility Master Plan and in coherence and close co-ordination with the development and update of the sustainable regional mobility plan (measure A1.1).

The main objectives of this measure were:

• To develop sustainable mobility plans for the two universities
• To involve stakeholders in local mobility into the process of developing and implementing the mobility plan for this new campus (using Mobility 2.0 applications)
• To identify necessary prerequisites to encourage the use of clean vehicles (pedelecs, electric carsetc.) for the new campus
• To integrate innovative mobility concepts and services in the development process for a new education, research and business area (University Campus)
• To implement tangible measures of the Clean Air Plan and Sustainable Transport Plan (including business trip) for the University areas
• To create an advisory service for land developers

The integration of mobility management and clean vehicles in a legally binding land development plan for a mixed-used area is completely new in Germany and still needs very innovative ideas to be implemented while the legal environment does not offer this at the moment.

A comprehensive web- and smartphone-based information, guidance and route planning for all modes of transport will allow guiding people from e.g. the train station to a specific room in a building using different transport modes. The system is based on other measures in the DYN@MO project, especially on the Mobility Alliance (measure A3.1).

Progress

The overall aim was the implementation of a Sustainable Mobility Plan for the RWTH Aachen University and FH Aachen areas. There were several sub-tasks for the topic sustainable university traffic. For the new University Campus areas (Melaten and West) the integration of mobility management in the site development was a main focus of work. To support site developers and companies an advisory service was implemented by developing and offering a handbook concerning the implementation of mobility management measures and especially with individual consultation. Companies moving to the area have the opportunity to take part in implementing infrastructural measures and contribute to a more sustainable traffic.

Furthermore, the RWTH established an intermodal, smartphone- and web-based information and guidance system for better mobility and accessibility related to the university area. This system includes mobility information points in different university areas and will be connected to the system of the Aachen Transport Association (AVV) developed in measure A3.1 Mobility alliance).

A mobility management concept has also been developed for the campus areas of FH Aachen. The focus has been on implementing mobility management measures (including a pedelec-rental system) and business trip management (Part C). During the preparation phase the following tasks were carried out:

• Defining a tailor-made process-organization to implement mobility management measures in the planning process for the entire University area and especially the new development areas Campus Melaten and Campus West
• Conducting of mobility surveys among the employees of the Universities to define and evaluate mobility management measures
• Offering options to investors and site developers to allow less car park facilities while implementing mobility management measures instead
• Developing a location analysis for a pedelec rental system
• Organising two car-sharing stations for business trips with the local car-sharing company (cambio)
• Organising and conducting focus groups for the mobility information and guidance system
• Developing a concept of a web- and smartphone-based information and guidance system for better mobility and accessibility of the University area
• Analysing existing trips of the entire FH Aachen staff and identifying potential for innovative and sustainable transport mode

During the implementation phase the following tasks were carried out:

• Design the mobility management handbook for site developers
• Establishment of facilities for the use of clean and innovative vehicles (pedelecs, electric cars, segways, etc.)
• Implementation of two pedelec rental stations
• Implementation of measures to support the use of bicycles (e.g. high-quality bike shelters) and negotiations about reduced number of car parking
• Modification of the public transport ticket (mobility ticket) for private companies which will settle down in the Campus area (company-pool)
• Implementation of the web- and smartphone-based information and guidance system for mobility and accessibility of the University and of GPS-based routeing to specific buildings and rooms in the University area (also for disabled people)
• Creation of an innovative business trip management, taking into account environmentally-friendly transport
• Establishment of an information portal for students and employees
• Implementation of a strategy for continuous stakeholder participation

The following measures have been implemented:

• Continuation of the public transport ticket (jobticket) for the employees and the parking space management at the RWTH Aachen University
• Opening of the first e-carsharing-station at Campus Melaten (incl. charging station for one public electric vehicle and an electric vehicle from the carsharing company “cambio”)
• Introduction of the car-pooling system for the employees of the University of Applied Sciences and RWTH Aachen University (http://www.rwth-aachen.pendlerportal.de/)
• Opening of the first pedelec rental stations (one at RWTH Aachen and one at FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences)
• Implementation of the information and guidance system for mobility and accessibility of the University and of GPS-based routing to specific buildings and rooms in the University area (RWTH Aachen University)
• Preparation of a mobility brochure for all students and employees of the RWTH Aachen University (in German and English)
• Preparation of four fact sheets “Mobility at FH Aachen”, which provided information about alternative mobility options such as commuters´ portal or carsharing and gave feedback about the survey results.

Outcomes

In 2010, before the first mobility management measures were implemented at the RWTH Aachen University, a mobility survey was carried out among the employees of the university with the aim .to evaluate employees’ travel behavior and interest in a job-ticket or combined ticket (parking & public transport).

In 2013 and 2016, in the context of the CIVITAS DYN@MO measure “Sustainable University Traffic”, two further mobility surveys were carried out among the employees of the university (RWTH) in order to evaluate the effects of the implemented mobility management measures. The main priority of the evaluations was to determine the resulting modal split. When comparing the modal splits of 2010 and 2016, distinct shifts from motorized individual transport (MIT) to public transport (PT) can be identified. The share of MIT (driver & passengers) declined from 58 to 44 %. The share of PT as main transport mode increased from 19 to 30 % and the share of walking and cycling as main transport mode increased from 20 to 25 % in the same term. Furthermore, the results of the surveys show that more than half of the employees (55 %) possess a season ticket for local public transport modes.

With the implementation of the described mobility management measures, the amount of trips by passenger car and of travelled kilometers on the trip to work could be significantly reduced. The projections from 2016 show that roughly 3.15 mill. car-km per year could be saved in comparison to 2010. This is equivalent to savings of about 643 tons of CO² per year.

Tangible outputs:

• Sustainable mobility plans for the University areas
• Pedelec-rental stations at the universitites
• (E-)car sharing-stations and charging stations for electric vehicles
• Car-pooling system for employees of both universities
• Plan for a business trip management at FH Aachen

Expected outcomes in the short- to medium-term:

• Innovative planning practices for land-use planning by integration of mobility management in a legally binding land-use plan
• Information of site developers about mobility management
• Workshops and consultation with site developers about specific measures to reduce pollution

Expected outcomes in the mid- to long-term:

• Increased modal shift towards public transport and alternative transport modes
• Promotion of innovative transport modes (rental station for pedelecs, carsharing)
• Use of innovative, clean vehicles (electric vehicles)

- See more at: http://www.civitas.eu/content/sustainable-university-traffic#sthash.dHTpnJnJ.dpuf