Overview
InCoMMune aims to acquire an understanding of the transport needs in relation to the complex activity-travel patterns of our contemporary society. The main goal is to identify the main determinants for mobility in a dynamic context, and use this information to integrate collaborative solutions offering comparable flexibility and comfort with respect to privately owned cars. The main argument is that one of the reasons for commuting by car is the need for efficient and flexible solutions for the whole trip chain, and in particular for the work-related activities during the day.
The main scientific objectives of the project to be pursued in the first half of the project are:
- To gain insight into the complexity of activity-travel patterns of individuals and of transport users of multimodal sharing services. To pursue these objectives, the related project STABLE collects and analyses extensive travel behavior data. In particular travel surveys have been run at the university involving the whole university staff, and multi-day travel diaries have been collected from a selected sample of the users that have been relocated to the new Campus.
- To design and organize collaborative mobility services based on sharing concepts. This objective, mostly expected to be pursued in the second half of the project, has been already well pursued as different travel and mode sharing solutions (carpooling, carsharing and shuttle services) have been put in place and data is currently being collected on their usage. For the first phase, these are designed and run individually, while in the second part combination of the solutions will be the main research focus.
- To develop new information and feedback mechanisms, through the design and testing of web-based and smartphone apps. For this objective, a Platform-as-a-Service solution called GO2UNI has been created. This PaaS will allow research in new advanced information and data collection methods, as well as in developing and integrating different sharing services is carried out by the linked PhD project PLAYMOBeL.
InCoMMune also offers the opportunity to understand and exploit the specificities of the Luxembourgish context. The whole scientific research is well framed in a real transport policy initiative of the university, as the collective services are currently being offered for intercampus mobility during the relocation period. Pilots carried on in the project have been significantly expanded to meet both research objectives and university practical needs, and in that, the way the project is being carried out is advocated to perfectly meet the mission of a Marie-Curie Career Integration Grant in providing solid foundations for enduring research and collaboration within and beyond the university walls.
One of the contributions of the project is to study the university relocation from Luxembourg City to the new campus located 25km southwest of the country. This brings the opportunity to collect data on the mobility dynamics that are currently being observed even before the relocation started. Since the relocation is expected to take years and staff members are being moved in stages, corporate transport services are being offered, namely:
- a carpooling platform;
- a shuttle service connecting the new campus with the three still active campuses in the city; and
- a car-sharing system that the staff members can use for work-related activities and for emergency issues, where the car remains the dominant and most convenient solution.
Travel choice analysis; machine learning; survey design.
Funding
Results
New findings in workplace relocation impacts; travelers profiling for matching sharing services; implementation of uni car sharing system.