3 minute read
Center for Mobility Systems
Mobility is a foundation of our society. The experts of the Center for Mobility Systems are developing efficient, safe and environmentally friendly solutions for passenger mobility, freight transport and the associated traffic infrastructure.
Mobility systems are subject to fundamental changes. In addition to rapid technological progress, the deciding factors in this respect include primarily urban growth and demographic development, clearly defined ecological targets as well as changes in the working environment. Trends such as the sharing economy and the desire for a socially just, secure, and barrier-free mobility for everyone will gain even greater importance in the future. These developments require
completely new methods and approaches in terms of mobility. The parallel existence of the mobility of persons, goods transport and its associated transport infrastructure is increasingly being replaced by an interaction between existing and future technologies and stakeholders. At the same time, the mobility system must meet the needs of the people. More than 100 highly-qualified, specialised and international experts work at the AIT Center for Mobility Systems. Our interdisciplinary team carries out research and development in the fields of mobility data collection and analysis, passenger flow analysis and impact assessment, mobility behavioural research, traffic planning, simulation and predictive models, structural dynamics and acoustics, traffic safety, traffic infrastructure, as well as transport logistics and optimisation. Developments and trends such as mobility as a service, synchromodality, automated
driving, physical internet or intelligent roads pose challenges.
Traffic safety and accident research throughout the entire road network is a priority objective of road operators. These are facing major challenges, in particular because certain traffic situations are becoming increasingly complex due to shifts in the modal split and, consequently, there are major changes in the proportionate use of the road space. Increased interactions between unprotected road users and motorized traffic as well as the application of new technologies in all modes of traffic call for new security concepts and strategies. At AIT, new analysis and simulation tools are being developed which combine road condition data and road mapping parameters with accident data, providing a reliable risk assessment for existing and planned roads. Using these measurement data, streets and roads can be modeled in a virtual and realistic manner, road networks can be mapped numerically with their potential hazards using algorithms, and complex road-vehicle relationships can be simulated and investigated.
Noise protection: Reliable and Silent Transport Infrastructure An efficient transport system is the backbone of the economy and social activities. But traffic also has a negative impact on the environment, for example through noise, vibrations or air pollutants. The acoustics experts at the Center for Mobility Systems combine high-precision, on-site noise measurements with simulations and analyses in order to capture traffic-related noise emissions numerically. The findings from measurements, simulations and modelling constitute the basis for new technologies such as low-noise road surfaces. In addition, we support manufacturers in developing and optimising infrastructure components such as noise barriers for road and rail. Close collaboration with infrastructure operators helps identify trouble spots in the infrastructure and enables an efficient implementation of highly effective noise protection measures along particularly noisy routes. AIT uses customised procedures, which range from the use of state-of-the-art measurement technology and the development of new simulation methods to the consideration of subjective noise perception. Among other things, psychoacoustic models and methods are applied in the data analysis.
Sustainable mobility using the sufficiency principle The sufficiency principle pursues the objective of a resource-saving lifestyle. It calls for the restriction of resource consumption to a "sufficient" level and orients itself along natural limits. Sufficiency therefore aims at a change in human mobility behaviour. Measures based on the sufficiency principle are sometimes difficult to implement socially, since they require abandoning or changing consumption patterns. On the other hand, sufficiency is also increasingly assessed positively against the background of the climate debate, since it aims at a responsible use of resources. An individual mobility account, for example, could indicate the maximum tolerable amount of emissions that can be "consumed" over a certain period of time for each person.
As part of the "mobalance" exploratory project, the characteristics and possible applications of such a mobility account were worked out in the Austrian context. After all, the latest research findings show that technological solutions make a valuable contribution – but they are far from being implemented quickly and effectively enough to achieve the necessary climate targets in the transport sector. This requires effective measures that support a more moderate mobility behaviour of the population in combination with technologies.
Arno Klamminger, Head of Center for Mobility Systems
