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No drivers, no customers? – A comprehensive public transport service for rural areas

The aim of a new research project at Hof University of Applied Sciences is to link public mobility services in the best possible way and thus improve them for users in the future. Together with the Technical University of Munich and industry partners, the Institute for Information Systems (iisys) aims to create innovative digital tools for transport planning. These programs should make it possible to coordinate existing modes of transport in the best possible way. An unprecedented wealth of data will help with their development.

An example of the many demand-driven mobility services that have recently been developed – the “Hofer Landbus” of the district of Hof; image: Landkreis Hof;

In order to create comprehensive and time-efficient public transport services in rural areas, many demand-responsive services have recently been set up – in the district of Hof, for example, the “Hofer Landbus”. However, as these services only work efficiently in narrowly defined areas, they need to be linked with a regular service that is adapted to them in order to create truly competitive services to the car.

Digital twin

To develop the necessary digital tools, structural, movement and usage data from existing mobility services as well as analytical methods including neural networks are now being used: “It is very rare that a project can foreseeably access so much information in order to develop meaningful solutions,” says Prof. Dr. Richard Göbel, research group leader at the Institute for Information Systems (iisys) at Hof University of Applied Sciences, delighted with the initial situation at the start of the project. In their analysis of the current status quo in the area of regional transport, the researchers have access to data from the district of Hof and HofBus GmbH as well as anonymized residential registration data, broken down by age group. The team even has access to cell phone movement data and motorized private transport movement data (floating car data) for analysis purposes, which of course also complies with data protection regulations. All of this is to be used to create a so-called “digital twin”, i.e. a digital image of the use, supply and, above all, demand for local public transport.

Intermodal linking of existing services

This allows the effects of planning decisions to be simulated.

Our approach is to record the types of transport – scheduled services, shared transport and demand-responsive transport (e.g. rural buses, cabs) – and to coordinate them in such a way that an improved service for users can be achieved, taking into account the limited personnel resources.”

Prof. Dr. Richard Göbel

The project itself operates under the name “OptiModal – Optimization of intermodal transport in rural areas”. The task is extremely complex and only possible through the development of new digital tools. “Transport needs and people’s choice of means of transport are analyzed – these optimization tools can then be used to improve the offers and re-evaluate them with the simulation,” explain iisys project team members Stephanie Kitzing and Felix Bahr. This allows planning steps such as the positioning of stops and the creation of timetables, as well as their review and optimization, to be partially automated.

Prof. Dr. Richard Göbel; Image: Hof University;

Mixed fleets in use in the future

When asked how greater effectiveness can be achieved with the resources used to date, mobility expert Göbel takes a look into the future: although personnel costs currently account for over 60 percent of public transport costs, it is by no means the case that future plans will be based solely on driverless vehicles in order to become more economical:

In the future, we are assuming the use of mixed fleets – in other words, that there will be routes with and without human drivers. Weather and external conditions will also continue to play a role in the question of whether purely autonomous driving is possible or not.”

Prof. Dr. Richard Göbel

However, efficiency resources lie particularly in the area of shared transport in the vicinity of large companies.

Partners and funding

In addition to Hof University of Applied Sciences, the TU Munich, Fluxguide Ausstellungssysteme GmbH, Match Rider GmbH and Plan4Better GmbH are also involved in the project. The project is scheduled to run from 01.07.2024 to 30.06.2027. The project is being funded with 1.8 million euros by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) as part of the mFUND innovation initiative. The Institute for Information Systems at Hof University of Applied Sciences (iisys) is the central research facility for computer science at Hof University of Applied Sciences and acts as the project coordinator. The institute contributes experience from the BMDV projects “Mobilität Digital Hochfranken”, “AktMel” and the projects “Shuttle-Modellregion Oberfranken Phase I and Phase II” to the project.

Further information on the project can be found here…

About the mFUND funding program of the BMDV

As part of the mFUND innovation initiative, the BMDV has been funding data-based research and development projects for the digital and networked mobility of the future since 2016. Project funding is supplemented by active professional networking between stakeholders from politics, business, administration and research. Open data is made available via the Mobilithek. Further information can be found at www.mFUND.de.

Rainer Krauß

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