Project: New Local Transport Options in the Southern Black Forest National
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Prompting the project were changing basic conditions for local public
transportation systems (PT) and demographic changes in rural regions that lead
to a lesser ability to bundle PT and declining affordability of the same.
Accompanied by that -because of the dominance of cars in rural areas- are
ecological consequences as well as an impairment of assured mobility for
persons without available car . Aim of the project was to assure the mobility
of ‘mobility-disadvantaged’ persons and to enhance their mobility through the
development of new offers adequate to their needs. At the same time these
attractive offers are also addressed at persons with available cars- to
motivate them to change from car to PT and thereby relieve the environment.
Finally, new transportation options are also set out to achieve a better
reception of existing local public transport options and to create more viable
and flexible additional options.
Survey regionThe scheme is being implemented in the administrative district of Waldshut and those parts of the districts of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald and Loerrach that are located in the Southern Black Forest. Distinguishing features of the survey area are a low population density and the relative distance to the main centres and conurbations in the Rhine Valley. At the same time, the survey area is a weekend destination for numerous people from neighbouring conurbations who are seeking recreation, as well as being a popular holiday destination within Germany. Main topics of the project:
Flexible local public transportation options are being developed further out of existing local public transportation timetables that are tied to specific routes. Need-oriented bus services are covering evening and/or weekend traffic and represent an option that supplements today's range of route-based services. This is meant to facilitate leisure activities (such as visits to cultural or sport events in surrounding towns) using local public transportation, regardless of the availability of one's own private car. However, peak demand for transport to the region's recreational destinations that is generated by weather conditions or seasonal factors can also be covered with flexible local public transportation options. Building on existing early car-sharing initiatives in the Freiburg area, car-sharing is being offered in further communities as part of the project. Moreover, additional opportunities for making use of car-sharing in the region are being developed further. The key concepts here are the organisation of new car-sharing options that tourists can use without belonging to a car-sharing organisation, and collaboration with associations, parishes, local authorities, or businesses offering accommodation. Car-sharing should be developed in addition to the range of local public transport that is either flexible or tied to certain routes. This presupposes close co-operation between those providing car-sharing and local public transport, and this is something that the scheme is striving for on several levels (co-operation over charges, information networking, joint mobility advice and a referral body, etc.). To supplement the creation of new options, information structures relating to the existing options are being systematically improved and co-ordinated via integrated organisational structures in decentralised mobility agencies. Railway stations, where advice and sales staff provided by German Railways, are currently no longer present, constitute one suitable location. With this in mind, financially viable usage concepts for specific station development are being drawn up as part of the scheme. The aim is better customer service and integrated mobility advice at each selected location. In order to ensure that tight financial resources for the development of new flexible options are deployed as effectively as possible, it is advisable to allocate the funds as accurately as one can. This means that an appeal should predominantly be made to those target groups that are open to such options, both in terms of their mobility requirements as well as their attitudes and orientations. The method that is suited to finding such groups of people is the Mobility Styles Concept. The task of the ISOEThe task of the ISOE lies in the development of a target group model that includes mobility and lifestyle orientations, transport behaviour, and the social background, and which now for the first time is being undertaken for the rural area. The study is being carried out via a two-stage survey and concluding target group discussions. Through this we are expecting better results relating to the acceptance of new local transport options, and an improved knowledge of the amenable target groups will additionally allow us to tailor these results so that they are more appropriate to people's needs. ResultsAn evaluation of the 56 in-depth interviews, conducted with question catalogues that were carried out during the project, was completed last year. Here it was learned, among other things, that life-style related factors – i.e. the attitudes, wishes and needs of individuals – play an important role in deciding on means of transportation also in the case of rural regions. The influence of objective factors, such as family situation, place of residence and public transport connections, seem however to be greater here than in urban areas. In addition, five mobility types were differentiated, whose representative character was checked by a standardized survey. The results of a representative survey comprising 1500 individuals had already shown that the residents of the regions studied are highly dependent on the car. 93% of all households own a car, and 81% of all licensed drivers have regular access to a car. Using a cluster analysis of the 1500 respondents it was possible to identify a total of 8 types who differ in their orientation patterns. For example, while the “risk oriented auto fans” showed a high level of attraction to their car and fast driving, other groups had a more ambivalent attitude, with some experiencing auto-mobility to a certain extent as a constraint and source of pressure. Altogether, 5 out of the 8 types are eligible for target group status within the project. These include target groups such as the “cautious type” or the “young wild type,” who have so far been constricted in their mobility, either because they do not have a driving license or because they do not have regular access to an auto. There are also other groups who display a strong ecological orientation, and who put this into practice, such as, for example, the “consistent type.” A similarly strong ecological orientation is displayed by the “sensitized type,” although they are usually not able to put this into practice. Another target group is the “open type,” whose preferred means of transport is the bicycle, but who also will employ all other means of transportation. In those areas where the proposals deriving from the NahviS project were implemented, an additional conjoint analysis was conducted in July 2003, with the aim of identifying the concrete wishes and needs of the residents in order that the proposal catalogue relates directly to their needs. Surprising results were for example, that the target-groups favour a scheduled public-transit bus over a flexible bus-offer, because they feel uncertain (cautious type), or worry about a limited spontaneity (young wild type). Referring to car-sharing, the chief constraint is the deposit, which has to be paid before car-sharing could be tested for its everyday-suitability and efficiency. These and further target-group oriented results of the survey and the conjoint analysis were included into the design and the elaboration of concrete offers: The pilot project for a new form of Public Transportation is the so called “Hotzenflex”, a combination of normally scheduled and flexible passages. A better acceptance of car-sharing was aimed at by offering a trial-membership, so that the suitability of car-sharing could be tested for two months. Additionally a target group-oriented Marketing concept was developed by ISOE and Car-Sharing Suedbaden and implemented by a professional Marketing agency. Among target group designed flyers and posters a cinema-spot promoting car-sharing was shown at local cinemas. Finally, the offers were evaluated, based on a “Hotzenflex”-passenger-survey, the “Hotzenflex” and car-sharing balance-sheets and input of several focus-groups with persons of the addressed target-groups. The results of this evaluation pointed out, that all in all the new offers, especially the “Hotzenflex” was accepted by the addressed target-groups and helped to assure their mobility. Unfortunately, there was no financing-possibility for the “Hotzenflex”, so that the offer had to be stopped after finishing the project. Overall, the chosen orientation-based target-group approach has shown its appropriateness. The knowledge of different needs and attitudes of target groups helped to identify unfulfilled needs, to strengthen desired orientations with measures and to overcome attitude related obstacles for its use. The findings and the approach are also transferable to other scarcely populated regions. Please see the German version of the project description for available material. For further information, please contact Steffi Schubert Consortium partnersThe following institutions are in overall charge of the project:
Additional project partners guarantee that the measures we are pursuing have practical relevance and can actually be put into place:
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