MIAAS: Bonn University aims to better explore Shared Mobility through a dashboard

Opinions on rental bicycles and electric scooters are really divided: Some see them as smart and speedy means of transportation, while others view them more as traffic obstacles. However, for a future where mobility is meant to be both individual and sustainable, shared mobility offerings play an important role, according to scientists from the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences. A research group now aims to help better integrate these vehicles into the sustainable mobility strategy of cities and municipalities. The project MIAAS (Mobility Intelligence as a Service) is coordinated by the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences (H-BRS).

Shared Mobility has great potential that is underutilized

Shared mobility, as opposed to private vehicles, describes movement with rented objects, the scientists explain. For several years now, bicycles, e-bikes, and e-scooters that users can rent via smartphone apps have been ubiquitous in city centers. Operators include municipal transportation companies as well as various private providers. This leads to problems, they further note.

"To achieve the mobility transition towards sustainable and environmentally friendly transportation, we need diverse offerings. Currently, however, cities and municipalities have difficulties keeping track," says project leader Paul Bossauer from the Institute for Consumer Informatics (IVI) at H-BRS.

So far, employees in public administrations have not been able to centrally and in real-time track which vehicles are where. The interdisciplinary research team from H-BRS and the University of Cologne aims to change this. The scientists are developing a so-called dashboard, a graphical interface where vehicles from all providers are visible. No-parking zones for bicycles and scooters can also be easily marked on the computer and sent to the providers. In addition to better oversight and more user-friendly operation, cities and municipalities aim to more effectively respond to the needs of citizens than before.

"We want to better understand where and for which routes the vehicles are used. This way, we can better integrate and manage the mobility offerings with public transportation in the future," says Thomas Bischof, project leader for the MIAAS project at the Cologne Transportation Company (KVB), which is collaborating with the scientists.