What Moves You? - Profiling Potential Users of New Forms of Mobility
What moves you? What is your stance on your current mobility and new mobility possibilities? The research project "Profile potentieller Nutzer neuer Mobilitätsformen" or Profiling Potential Users of New Forms of Mobility aims to find RWTH students' and employees' answers to this questions and others.
The over 40,000 students and more than 8,000 employees are two of the most important user groups in urban happenings. Appropriately so, their needs and demands should be considered in current mobility plans.
With the current shortage of fossil fuels, the threat of climate change, and changing user demands, mobility research is focusing on new forms of mobility, like the Pedelec rental system, electric cars, car sharing, and dynamic carpooling. Combing these new forms with today's widespread means of transportation is of particular interest. The demands of current and future users are a decisive factor for the widespread use of new forms of mobility.
For this reason it is important to investigate the profiles of potential users and user groups with regards to their behavior, their possibilities and needs, and thus their demands for the new types of mobility systems. The results of these analyses could be used to directly address users and develop user-oriented, integrated mobility concepts.
With a combination of methods from the fields of mobility research and sociology, users' mobility behavior and needs and their demands can be analyzed and compared to new types of mobility. RWTH students and employees were surveyed online to gather this information.
Thank You to the Supporters and Participants
Thanks to numerous supporters including those from Central University Administration, AStA, the Hochschulzeitung, Hochschulradio, academic advisors, student representative councils, and other representatives and organizations, the call to participate was spread via email listserves, press pieces, social media, posters, and flyers. Over 4,300 people participated in the survey. A big thank you goes to all of the participants.
Survey participants were entered in a raffle to win a table valued at about 450 Euros or two gift certificates to Saturn valued at 100 Euros and 50 Euros. The prizes were given to the three happy winners in January.
Highly Desired: Bike Rental Systems and Electronic Chip Cards
3,700 of the survey filled out could be evaluated and included in the results. Initial results indicate that 38 percent of those surveyed would like a bike rental system. An electronic chip card, which could be used for all of the exisiting and new mobility services, would appeal to about 58 percent of participants. Analyses of this and additional aspects are currently being conducted.