hEART 2025

The Institute for Transport Studies at BOKU at hEART 2025

The 13th Symposium of the European Association for Research in Transportation (hEART) took place in 2025 at the Technical University of Munich, bringing together leading experts and early-career researchers from across Europe. The conference served as a platform to discuss the latest advancements in transportation research, foster scientific exchange, and develop solutions for the challenges of modern mobility systems.

The Institute for Transport Studies at BOKU was proud to actively participate with a strong team:

• Georgia Charalampidou, MEng
• Franz-Xaver Rupprecht, Dipl.-Ing. B.Sc.
• Olivia Gold, Mag.phil. MSc
• Astrid Gühnemann, Univ.Prof. Dr.rer.pol.
• Yusak Susilo, Univ.Prof. Dr.

Key Topics at hEART 2025

This year’s conference focused on a wide range of forward-looking topics, including:

• Digital Twins in Transportation: Using digital replicas to improve planning, operations, and resilience of transport systems.
• Climate-Resilient Mobility: Strategies to adapt transportation infrastructure to the impacts of climate change.
• Shared and Autonomous Mobility: Integrating autonomous vehicles into public transport systems.
• Behavioral Adaptation to New Mobility Services: Understanding user responses to technologies like Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS).
• Decarbonization Pathways: Policies and technologies to achieve carbon neutrality in transportation.

BOKU Research Contributions

The BOKU team presented four research papers at the conference, covering diverse and impactful topics:

• Generating Round Trip Patterns from OD Matrices (Franz-Xaver Rupprecht)
• Simulating the Impacts of Shop Opening Times on Travel Patterns (Georgia Charalampidou)
• Transport Poverty and Commuting in Vienna (Olivia Gold, Astrid Gühnemann)
• The Impacts of Super-Apps on Time-Use and Activity Participation (Yusak Susilo)

Insights and Takeaways

Participating in hEART 2025 provided our team with valuable insights into cutting-edge research and innovative methodologies, including:

• The application of Digital Twins to simulate and optimize transport systems under various scenarios.
• Best practices for designing climate-resilient infrastructure capable of withstanding extreme weather events.
• The potential of shared autonomous vehicles to reduce emissions, alleviate congestion, and improve accessibility.
• Understanding user behavior to design mobility services that align with societal needs and preferences.
• Policy frameworks and technological innovations to accelerate the transition to low-carbon transport systems.

Looking Ahead

The knowledge and connections gained at hEART 2025 will directly contribute to our ongoing research and teaching activities. These insights strengthen our commitment to developing sustainable, inclusive, and innovative mobility solutions.

We are proud to be part of the hEART community and look forward to continuing our contributions to the advancement of transportation research.