Sustainable Automobilities in the Mobile Risk Society

Abstract

Sustainable automobilities is one of the key topics of the mobile risk society and the future of modern societies in general[...]

Transport Planning beyond Infrastructural Change: An Empirical Analysis of Transport Planning Practices in the Rhine-Main Region in Germany

“…The transport system in Germany-as in other countries-is characterised by a dominance of individual automobility, which leads to high energy consumption [1], high consumption of land [2,3], and the exclusion of non-car users [4,5]. Despite agreed-upon reduction targets, greenhouse gas emissions (GHG emissions) in the transport sector continue to rise in Germany [2,6], in the European Union [7], as well as worldwide [8,9].…”

“…At the same time, global trends such as climate change and growing social inequality put the current transport system under pressure [5]. The necessity of a transition in the transport sector towards a more equal and sustainable transport system is increasingly acknowledged by scientists [1,7,16] as well as state agencies [2,17,18]. At the core of the discussion about this transition-the so-called "Verkehrswende" in Germany-is how to establish a sustainable, accessible, and efficient transport system [1,4,5,19].…”

“…The necessity of a transition in the transport sector towards a more equal and sustainable transport system is increasingly acknowledged by scientists [1,7,16] as well as state agencies [2,17,18]. At the core of the discussion about this transition-the so-called "Verkehrswende" in Germany-is how to establish a sustainable, accessible, and efficient transport system [1,4,5,19]. First, it is considered necessary to reduce GHG emissions to protect the climate [9,20,21] and enable climate neutrality [22].…”

“…Three strategies are promoted to support more sustainable transport: (a) avoiding unnecessary traffic and reducing mobility demand, (b) shifting to more environmentally friendly transport modes, and (c) improving the transport system to handle unavoidable traffic in a compatible way [1,16,18]. The avoidance strategy most frequently relies on compact settlement patterns, land-use mix, and short distances, as well as the substitution of travelling by digital communication [9,28].…”

“…The avoidance strategy most frequently relies on compact settlement patterns, land-use mix, and short distances, as well as the substitution of travelling by digital communication [9,28]. The shift strategy is usually supported by an expansion of alternative transport modes, e.g., public transport, walking, and cycling [1,4,16]. The improvement strategy mostly addresses a switch from fossil-fuel drives to batteryelectric cars [5,16].…”