No one knows how traffic will develop, but one thing is certain: in 15 years, mobility will no longer look what it is today. There is increasing pressure to make road transport more ecological. Many members of Generation Y are resorting to alternative methods – especially when it comes to car technology. The drive is designed to be greener. But this is not enough, as the number of vehicles is still increasing.
“Dynamics New”
There are many ideas about what the future of mobility might look like and what it should look like. And Kleinwalsertaler Dialoge has collected and discussed these ideas under the motto “Mobility is New”.
One of the speakers of the Kleinwalsartler Dialogue was author, futurist and urban geographer Dr. Stefan Karsten from Berlin. Carsten has been analyzing the most important trends and developments in mobility for over 20 years.
mobility spaces instead of highways
His first thesis is: “We need to move away from thinking in terms of highways – towards places with mobility.” In the future, the regions will have to be used differently. Karsten uses the examples of major European cities such as Copenhagen or Paris, where cars are least banned from the center in order to give more space to cyclists and public transport. Any investment in cycling brings wealth to society as health care costs are dramatically reduced. Cargo bikes are also becoming increasingly important. Parcel service company UPS, for example, will completely switch its transport in Munich to cargo bikes this year.
parking spaces removed
In Brussels, for example, a huge parking lot was redesigned, a parking space eliminated and a communication space created, a place where children play and where people commute by tram. Retailers especially benefit from this, says futurologist Stefan Carsten. The idea that retail stores need parking space to generate sales is reversed here. The idea isn’t quite right—and according to Carsten, we’ve known it for many years. In China they go even further. There is currently a city of millions being built, with no cars and no roads, but high-speed trains, space for pedestrians and autonomous driving capsules.
Shipment Note: “Focus” – theme for life at ORF Radio Vorarlberg, September 11, 2022, from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm
“Seamless Mobility”
A new motto is “Seamless Mobility” – it describes a seamlessly coordinated mobility chain of different mobility providers – public and private. In any case, the car will become less important in the future and will be used only sporadically. This is shown by surveys among the younger generation. She wants to be mobile very flexibly, depending on the company, depending on the season, based on availability.
Public transport as the backbone of mobility
For Carsten, public transportation remains the social and sustainable backbone of mobility. And public transport paid off. In Germany, free public transport will cost twelve billion euros annually. Carsten compares this: the most important state subsidies in the transport sector are the commuter allowance, company car privileges and diesel taxation – together they account for 17 billion euros annually, so that doesn’t compare to twelve billion for free public transport, according to Carsten. Is. , Carsten suggests that in the future public transport should open up and integrate new trends such as scooters.
Another vision of the future is currently about to be implemented, namely autonomous driving. Trucks, buses, cars where no one really sits behind the wheel – with all its opportunities and risks.
to the person:
Stefan Karsten is a writer, futurist and urban geographer based in Berlin who combines themes of the future, the city and mobility in his work. He has been analyzing the most important trends and developments in mobility for over 20 years and is a member of the advisory board of the German Ministry of Transport, where he develops strategic guidelines for public transport. Together with Matthias Horch’s Future Institute in Frankfurt am Main, he publishes the annual Mobility Report.
