Research projects

Increasing numbers of people are commuting farther and farther, and most of them are doing so in their own cars. This is how the current development of commuting in Germany can be summarized. With a view to the urgently needed transition to a new mobility system, no sustainable development path has yet emerged, even though many employees are currently working from home due to the Corona pandemic, which means that at least some work-related commutes are no longer necessary. But what concrete instruments and measures can the federal government, states, municipalities and employers use to permanently reduce commuting? What effect can be achieved and how can political and social acceptance be generated?

These are the questions addressed by a project funded by Agora Verkehrswende, which is being carried out by the ILS together with Prof. Joachim Scheiner and Prof. Christian Holz-Rau (both TU Dortmund). The project is divided into four work packages (WP). In WP 1, the present situation of commuting is analysed on the basis of current data and literature and presented in a well-structured factsheet. In WP 2, the federal policy framework for commuting is examined and in WP 3, the measures and instruments of the municipalities are discussed with regard to their impact potential and political feasibility. In this context, possibilities for the further development of individual instruments in the sense of a transition to a new mobility system will also be taken into account. Since improving the situation in commuting between cities and their surrounding areas is also a regional task, WP 4 is dedicated to intermunicipal forms of cooperation and governance approaches.