Research

Problem definition: Since Oct. 2022, motor vehicles travelling at over 30 km/h must keep a distance of at least 2 m to the side when overtaking cyclists outside built-up areas. For cars or especially lorries or buses, overtaking in compliance with the law on the thousands of kilometres of rather narrow country roads largely requires the entire width of the carriageway. There is only rudimentary data available on compliance with or non-compliance with the side distance rule. There is also no technical enforcement option in Austria to date, although the police would be very interested in this. Objective: The project pursues two main objectives: (i) Using objective, well-founded data on the course of cycling overtaking manoeuvres on narrow country roads, the aim is to answer the actual extent of the motor vehicle side distance, which factors influence it (e.g. oncoming traffic, vehicle type and speed) and what psycho-physical effect it has on the cyclists involved. (ii) Recommendations should be drawn up on the extent to which the survey methods (see solution approach) appear suitable as a starting point for a technical enforcement option. Solution approach: On-site measurements are carried out simultaneously using two different methods: An automated lateral distance measurement with a measuring bike and a location-based video observation. This allows the data volumes of overtaking manoeuvres (uninfluenced and generated by test cyclists) required to achieve the target to be collected and analysed.

Lower Austria is a land of commuters. The share of electric cars in the car fleet in Lower Austria is currently less than 2% (Statistics Austria, as of 2022). Climate change and the energy crisis require a shift toward a renewable energy supply in both public and private transport. The use of alternative drive systems must therefore increase massively. The question is how quickly and to what extent this will happen. What are the motivations/barriers for or against alternative drive systems, such as e-mobility? How can a state, city, or municipality promote the mobility transition while simultaneously adapting and optimizing infrastructure planning to meet demand? Which journeys beyond commuting are primarily made by car, and is additional/different infrastructure necessary for this?

The EMORA project aims to develop a sound, multidimensional and operationalizable definition of mobility poverty, which entails four different sub-goals: (1) to develop specific definitions and operationalization options for private households and micro-enterprises that are tailored to the needs and challenges of both groups; (2) to include diverse perspectives by linking literature-, data- and stakeholder-based approaches; (3) to consider interactions between mobility and energy poverty in order to create a consistent basis for eligibility criteria and targeted measures; and (4) to derive possible measures to reduce mobility and accessibility poverty within the framework of the European Social Climate Fund.