Revolutionizing Mobility Hubs: Innovative Measures for Passenger and Freight – MOVE21 Living Labs Buzz!

Central to the integrated approach of MOVE21 are three Living Labs in Oslo, Gothenburg and Hamburg. In these cities, 14 different types of mobility hubs and associated innovations are tested. The aim is to accelerate the deployment of clean and smart urban mobility solutions to improve the quality of life in European cities. The first innovations are now being implemented, some of which are highlighted below. These include the development of mobility hubs, integrated transport services, new governance models, a reference architecture for goods and passengers transport, new business and collaboration models, and policy integration.

Implementing Innovative Measures

Mobility as a Service

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) has gained traction in recent years as a solution to urban mobility challenges. Several MOVE21 actions rely on this technology to facilitate the shift to greener transport modes:

The City of Oslo is partnering up with Urban Sharing to develop a Mobility as a Service (MaaS) project that will simplify integration for public and private mobility operators. The project will use an Application Programming Interface (API) developed by Urban Sharing, which is a simple and lightweight version of the existing Transport Operator to Mobility Provider (TOMP) standard. The API is language agnostic, allows mobility operators to handle customer support directly, and maintains GDPR compliance by excluding personally identifiable information. The aim is to enable partnerships between public and private mobility operators, improving multi-modal travel uptake and reducing car ownership, congestion and pollution, and enhancing infrastructure investments. Urban Sharing plans to pilot this approach with active mobility operators and create guidelines for fostering smoother collaboration between public and private entities in the European mobility space.

“By integrating micro mobility with public transport, we can offer the user a seamless multi-modal experience and an easy-to-use solution for the operators. It should be easy to jump from a bus to a city bicycle, all in one app!” – Jasmina Vele, Head of Operations, Urban Sharing

In Gothenburg, the Klippan/Jaegerdorff area is being used as a test site for the MOVE21 project to promote multimodal transportation and reduce car usage. The project aims to encourage people to use public transport, shared bikes or e-scooters for half of their trip, reducing emissions and congestion. To make the transition to multimodal transportation easier, the city of Gothenburg and Göteborgs Stads Parkering are investigating the use of the Parkering Göteborg mobile app to gather mobility services. The integration of different mobility services in the same app goes beyond a simple Mobility as a Service (MaaS) integration, encouraging traditional motorists to try other modes of transport. The project also involves the development of a general API setup for the parking app, which would allow other cities to use the same API and integrate with their transport providers. The project is being evaluated for replication and upscaling, potentially providing a valuable template for other cities in Europe looking to reduce car usage and promote sustainable transportation.

Multimodal and Interconnected Hubs for Freight and Passenger Transport

Mobility hubs offer alternatives to private vehicles by bringing together various shared and public transportation options. They are seen to be one of several options, or a combination of ideas, that cities and regions could take into consideration for more sustainable transportation. As a result, some measures opted for the implementation of Hubs:

The Living Lab Hamburg, has transformed a vacant building in Hamburg-Altona into a multifunctional Neighbourhood Hub for both commercial and public use. The Hub is designed to reduce emissions and traffic by offering integrated solutions for the transport of people and goods. On the logistics side, it includes space to reload packages and other goods, and the use of electric cargo bikes will make deliveries and package pick-ups zero-emissions trips. But also the social side is considered to offer a “Social Service and Consultation Kiosk” where residents can receive private consultations and support services, financial advice, renters’ issues, and debt consultations. The kiosk also offers food and supplies for the needy. The goal is to refine the Hub concept for more permanent solutions and for further pilots in other Hamburg neighbourhoods.

Photo: District of Altona

“The new neighbourhood hub is an enrichment for Altona Altstadt. The mixed use is a way to address the existing shortage of space. At Holstenstraße 20, sustainable solutions for the movement of goods are now being further established and made visible. And the socio-cultural offers and donations will create a new central point of contact that will be continuously developed for and with the people in the neighbourhood. In this context, new or additional mobility solutions for people will also be explored to be implemented during the project period in order to create further benefits for the neighbourhood.” – Stefanie von Berg, District Mayor of Altona, Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg

Photo: DB AG / Oliver Lang

The City of Gothenburg resorts to hubs in two cases: Firstly, when testing sustainable mobility solutions in the test site Klippan – located between the central city and suburban areas. The project aims to make existing shared mobility solutions more attractive by using tools like visualization, guidance, and nudging. Three solutions will be implemented in spring and summer 2023, including a new rental bike station, repurposing parking spots into a mobility hub, and improvements in guidance and orientation in bike infrastructure. The project is a collaboration between the municipality, the local parking company, and local citizens who provided input through surveys and interviews. The project also considers the impact of future urban transformation projects in the area and aims to enable sustainable and emission-free travel behaviours. The impact of the measures at Klippan will be analysed, and future steps may include scaling up the developed mobility information board to other locations and replicating the concept in other mobility hubs in the city.

Secondly, when developing a Micromobility hotel consisting of three solutions to reduce motorized transport and promote sustainable urban mobility in the Nordstan area of Gothenburg. The first solution is a “handyman hub” offering a fleet of electric cargo bikes for service providers such as window cleaners, electricians, and cleaning companies. The second is a Front EndHub with a bicycle repair centre and other micromobility companies sharing a common space for service, sales, last-mile delivery, and battery swap. The third is the continued operation of an existing goods consolidation system. The project involves stakeholders such as service providers, micromobility companies, and citizens, and aims to develop a self-sustaining business model for upscaling and replication. Testing and evaluating the solutions is the next step, and the long-term benefits include a cleaner, safer, and more sustainable environment and a reduction in motorized transport.

“The innovation within this testsite is mainly the combination of goods and personal mobility. The different types of partners involved have never cooperated before on this specific theme, and the concept is very unique and does not exist anywhere else!” – Anastazia Kronberg, Business Region Göteborg

The City of Oslo is testing a new way to efficiently transport goods and reduce traffic by combining the transport of people and freight in its Mobility on Demand (MoD) service for seniors. The service, which transports seniors to key destinations such as shopping centers, will now also offer home transportation of goods purchased from stores in the shopping center.

Goods will be moved to a local consolidation point in the shopping center, where they will be sorted and combined for efficient home transportation using the MoD service for seniors. The stakeholders involved are the stores, the shopping center, Ruter (the operator of the MoD service for seniors), and software provider MIXMOVE. Integration between information systems has been completed, and the solution may be implemented in any shopping center that wants to offer home transportation of goods.

At the Lindholmen micro Terminal in the City of Gothenburg a concept for parcel boxes B2B is being developed and evaluated to reduce motorized traffic, emissions, and congestion while providing a high service level for customers and freight carriers. The innovation aspect is mainly focused on business and service innovation, with potential for further reduction of transports using the outbound function of the parcel boxes. The measure’s next steps involve decisions about upscaling, permanenting, or redesigning, and new pilots. Investigations are also ongoing for adding further new services.