Research

GreenPATH is a project aimed at providing sustainable commuting solutions to students and employees in functional urban areas (FUAs) in Central Europe. The project is co-designed with mobility managers and targeted towards public and private stakeholders. It aims to develop smart and green mobility solutions through pilots, strategies, and action plans developed by 11 public administrations, mobility agencies and operators, universities, and research bodies, and 12 associated partners. The project focuses on addressing the challenges related to mobility management and commuting from home to work. The partners will develop a common strategy for the integrated governance of commuter flows in FUAs. They will deliver innovative solutions that can be scaled up in FUAs, leveraging new technologies and data-sharing platforms to optimize transport efficiency, improve the overall commuting experience, and provide commuters with real-time information, personalized travel options, and seamless integration of different modes of transport. GreenPATH will deliver practical solutions and action plans for a wide range of potential users, including local and regional public authorities, sectoral agencies, infrastructure, and (public) service providers, higher education and research organizations, schools, industrial and service companies, and related mobility management teams. The project outputs include three collaborative solutions for sustainable mobility, tested in three pilots deployed throughout FUAs, the GreenPATH Strategy, and seven action plans for each FUA. These outputs are expected to be endorsed by decision-makers, ensuring the take-up and further implementation of the solutions.

Being mobile is an essential prerequisite for participating in social life. Rising energy prices have brought the issue of mobility to the fore and raised the question of the future affordability of (car) mobility. As part of MOSAIK, we want to take an in-depth look at what mobility poverty is, which groups of people and regions are affected by it - especially in terms of work and education routes - and which measures are promising for different target groups. In a first step, a spatial analysis of regional differences in mobility poverty will be carried out. For this analysis, a new data set will be created that contains the characteristics of public transport connections (e.g. duration, transfers, number of connections during rush hour, in the evening, at weekends and at other off-peak times) between important economic/company locations and large conurbations in the Innviertel region. The analyses show where the need for commuting routes can be met particularly well or particularly badly by public transport. In addition, the data from the supplementary consumer survey conducted by Statistics Austria will be used to identify population groups affected by mobility poverty on the basis of predefined indicators and to outline their spatial distribution. The result of both analyses will be a collection of particularly vulnerable regions and groups of people. With the aid of expert interviews and interviews with affected groups of people, framework conditions and targeted solutions for those affected by mobility poverty are to be developed and then discussed with regional representatives. Using a pilot study, an existing solution approach in the Innviertel region will be evaluated as an example and its transferability discussed. The results of the project will be incorporated into an action plan to reduce mobility poverty.

Mobility is essential for participation in social and professional life. Rising energy and living costs due to inflation have had a significant impact on low-income households in particular, bringing the issue of transport poverty into the public spotlight. Transport poverty describes the difficulties and limitations people face due to inadequate or unaffordable mobility options. In addition to financial burdens, it can lead to social isolation, limited educational opportunities and limited employment prospects. While most studies focus on transport poverty in rural areas, this study looks at the impact on households in Vienna. The analysis focuses on the challenges of commuting as an unavoidable and difficult to change mode of transport. Following a review of the literature, a mixed methods approach is used to analyse the impacts, perceived constraints and coping strategies of households affected by transport poverty in Vienna. In a first step, quantitative data will be analysed to describe the distribution of transport poverty in the city. Three causes and the corresponding affected groups of individuals/occupations will be examined: 1) spatial causes, such as commuting patterns in Vienna that are difficult to manage using public transport; 2) temporal causes, including long commutes or difficulties in accessing transport at certain times (e.g. weekends, nights); and 3) personal causes, such as income, age, education level and migration background. These analyses aim to identify areas and demographic groups at higher risk of transport poverty in order to recruit approximately 25-30 participants for in-depth interviews. These interviews will explore the perceptions, everyday experiences and coping strategies of the groups concerned, using a partly narrative approach. The findings will be discussed in a results workshop with experts and practitioners to identify options for reducing transport poverty.