Transport transition: improving climate and mobility on smartphones

When it comes to future-oriented transport planning for their city, local politicians are not to be envied: money is usually tight and the problems are huge. “With the mobility transition, municipalities are faced with the big challenge of having to implement a lot of things at the same time and as quickly as possible in order to reduce climate emissions,” says Claus Doll, transport researcher at the Karlsruhe Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI). “In addition, the municipalities have the task of making policies for their citizens – in other words, not making people worse off through climate protection measures.”

Together with the game developer Takomat and other research institutions in the city such as the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Claus Doll has »Mobile City Game« developed – a dynamic model for the development of traffic scenarios. The highlight: The developers fed their model with real mobility data from the city of Karlsruhe. It works via an app on your smartphone and can be completed in around 15 minutes. Playing isn’t quite the right term: “It’s actually a simulation environment and not so much a game where I can actually win or lose,” says the scientist.

Users of the app have the task of CO₂-To reduce traffic emissions in Karlsruhe to zero by 2050. “In the current version, however, this is not entirely possible,” reveals Doll. »Because the transport sector alone cannot make its climate emissions neutral. We absolutely need the energy transition here, because after all, electric vehicles also need electricity, the production of which causes emissions!”

But traffic planners on smartphones shouldn’t be deterred by such small restrictions. Various transport planning instruments are available to them for the transport transition: for example, expanding cycle paths, increasing parking fees, a tariff reform for public transport or the introduction of an inner-city speed limit. Major conflicts need to be resolved: “On the one hand, you have people who are dependent on a car, for example because they have to commute,” says Doll. “And on the other hand, there is an urban clientele that would like to drive cars out of the city entirely.”

Different interests must therefore be balanced. Anyone who only looks at emissions when planning transport is driving the project against the wall. Sabine Hirtes can tell you a thing or two about it: “I very quickly suggested a lot of measures, such as building six new cycle paths, overturning the entire parking system and introducing a speed limit. And then it turned out that it doesn’t work like that.” Because in her first attempt, the design professor at a university in nearby Offenburg would have led the Karlsruhe municipality into financial ruin. In addition to the CO₂emissions also play a role in the app, the quality of life of citizens and costs. For each of these three categories, the user receives points between 0 and 100 – and only those who keep an eye on all three will succeed in transforming traffic.

The game developers around Claus Doll have put a lot of effort into depicting the different categories as accurately as possible. For example, quality of life is made up of many different indicators. The costs of mobility play just as much a role as the accessibility of various places in the city, air pollution, noise levels, traffic safety and the positive health effects of more exercise in everyday life, such as cycling.

Sabine Hirtes, who is also a member of the Baden-Württemberg Institute for Sustainable Mobility, got to know the “Mobile City Game” in a workshop. She sees playful traffic planning as an opportunity to raise people’s awareness of traffic planning issues. “You might also become more clear about what you want in your city,” she says.
In addition to the interested public, traffic researcher Claus Doll also has an eye on the scientific community, especially traffic science courses, which are often very technical. “With this tool we could show that it’s not just about changes in the choice of means of transport, costs and times,” says the scientist. “There are also effects on life satisfaction and city finances, which you should have on your radar as a traffic planner.”

And employees in the municipalities themselves should also benefit from the app. Michael Fritz, who is responsible for innovative mobility in the Karlsruhe city planning office, is a bit skeptical. “With a game like this there is always a bit of a risk that it will suggest simple solutions – that is, that the citizens will move three controls and the problem will be solved,” says Fritz. “But life is not that simple!” After all, municipal transport projects are often associated with years of discussions. In the end, the city of Karlsruhe took part anyway – especially because the city made its mobility data available. “We also support projects where we don’t see a direct benefit for our work,” says the traffic planner. “But if society benefits from it, then something has been gained.”

The number of users of the app is still limited – which may also be due to its low level of awareness. The award with the German Mobility Prize from the Federal Ministry of Transport comes at just the right time. The developers want to offer the app to other municipalities throughout Germany in the future. Until then, however, new data sets must be entered and the tools for traffic planning must be adapted to local needs. “But once we have the basic data, that’s no longer a big step,” Doll is convinced.

The “Mobile City Game” can be downloaded free of charge from Google Play or Apple’s AppStore.