The Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning

Top News 28 October 2021 Prize-winning mobility: BMI and BBSR honour cooperation projects to improve mobility in rural areas

The Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community (BMI) and the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) conferred distinctions on 20 cooperation projects at today’s digital event marking the end of the competition "Gemeinsam erfolgreich. Mobil in ländlichen Räumen” (Successful together. Mobile in rural areas).

Municipalities, initiatives, associations and companies cooperate successfully in these projects with the aim of providing sustainable and user-friendly mobility that is affordable for everyone. This ensures participation and enhances the everyday life of people.

On the occasion of the award presentation, State Secretary Dr. Markus Kerber said: “The award-winning cooperation projects in the competition play a pioneering role and show throughout the country what mobility can look like! The future has already been put into practice here. That is something we want to acknowledge and encourage others to emulate."

The head of the BBSR, Dr. Markus Eltges, added: “The successfully realised cooperation projects can also act as a precedent for other municipalities. “Mobilikon shows how such measures improve local mobility by using these and many other projects as examples. The online reference material describes the measures very descriptively in order to provide those responsible in municipalities with support in realising similar projects."

The projects were selected by a jury made up of representatives from science, research, transport and administration. The BMI and BBSR present the 20 award-winning projects under the online Mobilikon reference (www.mobilikon.de).

Each of the competition winners is awarded 5,000 euros; three outstanding projects were particularly commended:

  • Authorities and enterprises around Homberg an der Efze in Hesse have teamed up with a car-sharing provider and a mobility consultation company to provide vehicles for their employees, thus combining private and business mobility. Here, commuters from the surrounding region can use a car from the vehicle pools in the morning and evening. During their working hours, the vehicles increase the number of vehicles available for the municipal car-sharing service, which can also be used by private citizens. In the evening, the commuters take the vehicles back with them to their homes in the surrounding rural areas, where they are then available to the community for such things as shopping and leisure activities. The people making use of this service often no longer need a car of their own.
  • The app that makes mobility accessible for all: “Mobile info” helps to improve orientation in unfamiliar places, particularly for people with impaired mobility and sensory capabilities. The application makes barrier-free travelling easier in Bad Sassendorf, Möhnesee and Soest: You no longer have to look for the stop button on the bus. Just a tap on the mobile phone, and the desired stop for getting off the bus is registered. Users needing assistance when getting on or off the bus can also just click the service on their smartphone. The app also identifies which lift is working at the station, and not only knows the fastest way to the bus stop, but also the safest. And by simply pressing the corresponding button, the vehicle emits an acoustic signal to help you find the right bus.
  • Getting e-mobility rolling, getting involved in the village community and coming together to make things happen: This was the main focus of the competition “Our Village Goes Electric”, which was implemented as a cooperation project of the Göttinger Land, Harzweserland and Osterode am Harz regions, in which eight municipalities from the Göttingen and Northeim districts developed convincing and economically feasible e-car sharing concepts and apply them locally. Public events and workshops were held to stimulate public interest and encourage participation. The realisation was coordinated in project groups and network meetings, in which, thanks to e-car-sharing, concepts emerged that make a difference and dispense with the need for second cars, for instance by means of organised driving services or self-developed booking apps.

The competition takes place as part of the Shaping the Region programme, through which the BMI supports projects especially tailored to rural areas. Their aim is to promote equal living conditions throughout Germany, which is a key concern of the federal government’s community policy. The BBSR processes the new models for action for practical application and derives transferable conclusions for rural areas.

About Mobilikon:
The “Mobilikon” online reference material outlines solutions for municipal mobility management in a user-friendly and practicable manner, thus enabling municipalities to find and implement customised, intelligent mobility solutions. Mobilikon comprises specific actions, planning-related, legal and financial instruments, aids for implementation and real-life examples. This entails the continuous assessment of ongoing research projects, pilot projects, professional publications and practical examples, while success factors and implementation problems are analysed and addressed. This results in regularly updated reference material on the topic of local mobility. The Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community and the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development are responsible for the content. www.mobilikon.de

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