Overview
A shift away from the previous mobility vision (always better and faster connections available everywhere and at any time) and towards a sufficiently efficient vision of mobility (using mobility consciously in such a way that space, energy and the environment are used fairly and not overloaded) can represent a key core point of the mobility turnaround. The introduction of a "mobility account", which aims at a moderate and conscious use of mobility, could have serious consequences for the realities of life of the population. This presents a number of economic and social challenges. In view of the global goal of decarbonisation, initiatives are increasingly being developed that follow the principle of sufficiency. These approaches are usually used to highlight issues and create awareness. There are hardly any examples of implementation in action policies. Supplementing technological and planning solutions with political control measures aimed at the moderate use of mobility could make a significant contribution to achieving important climate targets.
The mobalance project aims to realize the principle of sufficiency in mobility in the form of a "mobility account" and therefore addresses two main questions:
- What would be the characteristics of a mobility account? (How would mobility behaviour be recorded? How could data be protected against misuse and manipulation? How would different behavioural influences, e.g. preferences, constraints, have to be evaluated in resource consumption?
- How and for what could such a concept be implemented? (Which objectives could be supported by the introduction of a mobility account, e.g. social, ecological, economic? Which actors are needed for implementation? Where are the interfaces to other systems, e.g. energy, space?)
The feasibility project mobalance aims at a broad discussion with various stakeholders to clarify these questions in order to create the necessary basis for the implementation of such a concept. The concept of a mobility account is therefore aimed at politics, administration and traffic planning as well as at interfaces to planning disciplines such as spatial planning, urban planning or energy planning. Hence, comparable approaches and mechanisms from other areas are identified in a field analysis and their transferability to mobility is investigated.
The main focus in mobalance is to develop definitions for mobility accounts and to identify areas of application with an accompanying discourse with groups of actors. Based on this, concept scenarios are derived, and their impacts are estimated. The results are recommendations for action for potential implementation paths. By definition, a mobility account would shift the priorities for shaping our living environment and would be a useful tool for various planning tasks such as rural development, settlement development or the design of public spaces and street spaces in cities.