Everything in its place
Frankfurt is declaring war on chaos on the streets and is planning to introduce around 950 mobility stations. With fixed parking spaces for e-scooters, bicycles and car-sharing cars, the uncoordinated parking of vehicles in the city should soon be a thing of the past. E-scooters in particular, which until now have often blocked sidewalks or been parked dangerously, will only be allowed in marked, digitally monitored parking areas. The first pilot stations in the city center and in the station district have already shown that this leads to more order and safety in public spaces.
In addition to improving the structure of the streetscape, the mobility station concept also aims to promote environmentally friendly and user-friendly mobility. The stations are intended to bundle various sustainable means of transportation in one place and enable seamless transfers between trains, bicycles, e-scooters or rental cars. This is an important step in the “Mobility Master Plan” to offer Frankfurters a real alternative to their own car.
Three different types of station are planned: Small stations, which take up roughly the space of a parking lot, offer space for rental bikes and e-scooters. They will mainly be built in the city center and in busy district centers such as Höchst or Berger Strasse. A total of over 500 of these small stations are to be built. Larger stations, of which around 450 are planned, will also provide car-sharing vehicles and will primarily be set up at public transport stops as well as in residential areas and at rail junctions.
Another component of the mobility turnaround in Frankfurt is the significant expansion of CarSharing services. There are currently 550 vehicles available to citizens, and this number is to be increased to 760. In the long term, the city aims to provide one CarSharing vehicle per 1,000 inhabitants. The new CarSharing stations will be located at the mobility stations, at important traffic junctions and in densely populated residential areas. In this way, the outer districts of the city will also benefit from a comprehensive service.
The mobility stations are being implemented in cooperation between the municipal public transport company traffiQ, the Road Traffic Office and the Office for Road Construction and Development. The first stations are due to be implemented in 2024, with the full network planned by 2029. The aim is to better link sustainable modes of transport and enable efficient, environmentally friendly mobility for all Frankfurters. At the same time, the limited public space is to be better utilized by parking vehicles in an orderly manner.
With the new mobility stations and the expanded car-sharing service, Frankfurt is taking on a pioneering role in the urban mobility revolution and creating the conditions for a modern, networked transport system that intelligently combines both public transport and sharing services.
Author
Janina Zogass