Can't it be finer? This question suggests itself in view of the glut of ever larger and heavier cars in our cities. On the other side of the spectrum, alongside the bicycle, more and more innovative, fine, light and maneuverable vehicles are offering an alternative that is both more economical and more ecologically compatible.

Passenger and freight transport by individual means of transport from the spectrum "between shoe and car" was illuminated by around 60 experts from manufacturing companies, industry associations, federal authorities, urban and transport planning institutions, environmental institutes, communications agencies and universities for three days at the Kassel Symposium on Fine Mobility from September 26 to 28, 2022.

It was the first interdisciplinary exchange of information, experiences, findings and insights on the topic of fine mobility, which includes so-called micromobility, mobility aids, bicycles, cargo and special bikes, velomobiles, cabin scooters, light electric vehicles and electric minicars.

Topics of the roundtable discussions were vehicles, vehicle ecosystem, industries and market; fine mobility in traffic law; environmental and resource impacts and safety of fine mobility; infrastructure planning for fine mobility; and communication.

The invitation was extended by the Department of Transportation Planning and Systems at the University of Kassel (Prof. Dr.-Ing. Carsten Sommer) and the Freiburg-based creative studio The Urban Idea. The framework project "Mobility with a Human Scale" is funded by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt.

How is fine mobility defined? In a partnership of the Verkehrsclub Deutschland (VCD) and the Stadtplaner-Vereinigung SRL with the University of Kassel and The Urban Idea, all types of passenger-individual vehicles and light goods vehicles have been recorded according to length, width, height, surface area, space taken up (external volume), turning circle, weight and kinetic energy and ranked from fine to coarse and divided into seven categories (XXS, XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL) according to known clothing sizes. Fine mobility makes use of the XXS, XS and S vehicle categories, making fine mobility city-friendly, environmentally and climate friendly.

The organizations also propose a system of traffic areas with certain speed levels for which compatible vehicle categories are determined.

Designers, CEOs, traffic engineers, planners, mobility and environmental researchers, lawyers, psychologists and marketing experts will meet more times for technical discussions to further refine the methodology of vehicle categories by size, weight and speed (GGG) as well as the traffic area approach. 

Given today's gigantomania in the vehicle population, everyone agreed: our traffic needs to be finer!

Contact:

University of Kassel: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Carsten Sommer, c.sommer[at]uni-kassel[dot]de, T. 0561 / 804 3381
The Urban Idea: Konrad Otto-Zimmermann, projekte@theurbanidea.com, T. 0761 / 701 0009