Mobilität und Umwelt

Initial Situation

The information platform immer Mobil (English stay mobile, always mobile) enables citizens to use up‐to‐date and enhanced mobility offers and travel possibilities in rural and also in urban areas in a convenient way. The key concept of immer Mobil is to improve matching between transportation needs and available transportation services. It is demonstrated and tested by use of mobile communication devices with a special APP solution, but also with the use of conventional information and communication technologies.

In an ageing society, enhanced mobility solutions are needed to facilitate an independent living and to support out-of home mobility of all generations. immer Mobil is addressed to a broad target group in cities and urban areas, with individual needs and different regional conditions. Active people wants to stay mobile the whole life up to their old age. The growing number of elderly people and the tendency that different generations of a family do not live together in order to help each other, e.g. take the older ones to appointments, result in the need of an adjusted mobility offer. But also younger people, who wants to travel quickly from place to place, can use this platform.

Conception and Realisation

In addition to traditional public transportation services, these new approaches provide alternatives like community transportation, private transportation services or hailed shared taxis. Travel information, routing and partly booking will be constantly supported via internet, mobile devices and services, like under guidance of a call center. An online database compares current demands and offers corresponding to the location, personal preferences and special requirements of the end-user.

Due to the matching of present and location-based requests and offers, it is possible to provide suitable mobility options. The service is usable via internet, mobile device and phone. By means of satellite navigation, mobile devices can identify the current position of the user. Thus, the end-user can book individualized transport services uncomplicated and easily, virtual by pushing one button.

Process visualisation

© Fraunhofer IML Prien

immer Mobil was developed by a consortium of partners from research companies, transport service providers and IT experts. They used a mixture of method-based research, described in the following part. At the beginning of the project the requirements of users and service providers were elevated and the mobility needs of people in the field test region were investigated. After completion of the primary analysis, the whole system was developed. This includes the definition of systemically important services, functionalities as well as the visualization of organizational processes and technical processes.

The design was carried out by the use of scenarios and techniques of creating new processes. A special attention was paid to the interfaces with external services, such as the timetable information system EVA or mapping services. The development of the system components is divided into the development of end-user services, the provider services and call center services. For the preparation of the field test, the system integration of all components carried out in the pilot region and an internal testing of the system. Subsequently, optimization potentials and core functionalities have been pointed out during the field test. After the field test, the obtained data were analyzed and documented.

The intercession of mobility offers occur individual. These can include e.g. details of the health status, maximum length of route taken by foot, cost limitation or maximum desired time of waiting. This makes public transport more individual. If required, the possibility of transporting a walking frame or a wheel chair can be checked. Due to the matching of location-based requests and transport possibilities in real-time, it is possible to provide suitable and safe mobility options from door to door.

Results and Evaluation

The prototype offers an intermodal and multimodal mobility platform, which was tested in the district of Rosenheim and Traunstein. Future potential of immer Mobil is seen in the geographical extension and in the inclusion of further transport associations which could integrate their offer in the immer Mobil system. Furthermore the inclusion of flexible modes of transportation like car sharing and call-a-bus services as well as an expansion of an accounting and payment system is also contemplated. With this integrated systems, the individual transport possibilities will be transparent and more public.

REFERENCES

• Wagner, N. & Pfennigschmidt, S. (2013). Immer Mobil-Die Mobilitatsplattform für vernetzte Verkehrsdienstleistungen. In: Lebensqualität im Wandel von Demografie und Technik. 6. deutscher AAL-Kongress, Berlin. [Vortrag] ISBN 978-3-8007-3484-9, S. 495-498.
• Magazin des Fraunhofer-Instituts für Materialfluss und Logistik IML Dortmund: Immer Mobil – Das Projekt iMo. Individuelle, ortsbezogene Verkehrsdienstleistungen für ältere Menschen im ländlichen Raum, in Logistik entdecken, Bd. 8, S. 26-27, Fraunhofer IML, 2010