Research project “EMOJI - Independent mobility of young people in rural areas” is being carried out by the research team at the Institute of Transportation

 

Young people in rural areas often grow up “car-oriented”. Young people associate a private car or moped/motorcycle with freedom and independence and see these means of transport as a necessity in order to be mobile. Offers for active mobility, sharing or demand-responsive transport are sometimes little known, unpopular or simply do not exist.

In the EMOJI project (Independent Mobility of Young People in Rural Areas), funded by the Austrian Ministry of Climate Protection, the project team, consisting of an interdisciplinary team of transport planners, transport sociologists and environmental educators (Factum, BOKU, transport planning office komobile and the Styrian Environmental Education Center), is looking at the mobility needs of young people and measures that enable regional mobility that is suitable for children and young people. In four pilot communities in Upper Austria (Krengelbach, Schwanenstadt) and Styria (Trofaiach, Sinabelkirchen), surveys and workshops are being conducted with young people. The aim is to define solutions for child- and youth-friendly mobility together with young people and to institutionalize their participation in mobility offers. The project provides a framework concept for municipalities that practically guides sustainable mobility provision in rural regions and takes the needs of young people into account.

Further information can be found on the project homepage: www.young-mobility.at/emoji/