In the context of the “Profilregion Mobilitätssysteme Karlsruhe” (research cluster on mobility systems, http://www.profilregion-ka.de) a number of kick-off projects are conducted since 2016, including a project on mobility in the urban context (http://www.profilregion-ka.de/index.php/initialisierungsprojekte/mobilitaet-im-urbanen-umfeld).

ITAS is involved in the following two subprojects.

Subproject “Impacts of autonomous driving on urban infrastructures”

This subproject investigates the interrelations between autonomous driving, urban infrastructures and mobility behavior. Together with the partners, ITAS develops scenarios to investigate at which stage of technical development (main focus is on “high automation”, level 4) autonomous driving might become interesting for different sociodemographic groups of commuters in the region of Karlsruhe, and which implications for infrastructures might emerge from these developments. In the same context, we conduct an analysis for a specific district in Karlsruhe, looking at what kind of new options autonomous cars may bring for inactive traffic (parking), and which implications for urban design might follow.

Subproject “Modelling urban freight transport”

At the center of this subproject is the development of a logistics transport model for Karlsruhe. The modelling approach is microscopic, identical to the approach of KIT-IfV’s passenger transport model mobiTopp. Every trip and every agent in urban logistics transport is modelled. This has the advantage that intelligent transport management systems can be directly represented and therefore assessed in the model. Furthermore, a consistent modelling approach is desirable because both passenger and logistics transport share the same transport network.

Within this subproject, ITAS concentrates on questions arising from the potential effects of the rapidly increasing digitalization in the mobility sector. In logistics transport, this relates to rising online sales in particular. Passengers’ shopping trips become delivery trips, potentially causing manifold effects in commodity flows which are not well understood. The potential use of autonomous (driverless) delivery vehicles is also addressed. The systematic consideration of potential future development paths (based on system thinking approaches) will help to improve the suitability of the urban logistics transport model to address future challenges.

Tel.: +49 721 608-23994
E-mail