Mobility on Demand for Everybody—Investigation of the Current Challenges in Establishing Ride-Pooling Services for Persons with Mobility Impairments in Germany

Abstract

The ongoing transformation of mobility, including new services such as on-demand mobility, raises the question of how services need to be designed so that everyone can use them. The number of persons with mobility impairments is increasing as a result of demographic change, and with the current amendment of the law, it will be mandatory in Germany to take these person’s needs into due consideration. After all, a transport provider’s success relies on sufficient demand in society (including persons with and without disabilities). Due to changing mobility routines, increased comfort, and other individual personal requirements, vehicles smaller than conventional buses are necessary for passenger transportation. The following investigation is a research study, which is based on an intensive literature review and expert interview study. The goal of this work is to evaluate the current status quo of the German public transport system with respect to inclusive on-demand services and their satisfaction with user requirements. Therefore, guideline-oriented interviews with experts from the mobility sector were consulted and analyzed. For this purpose, the procedure of the qualitative analysis was used. Furthermore, user analysis and methodological processes were conducted in order to strategically establish necessary measures. On the one hand, the current initial situation is addressed and initial experience with these new services is reported. The current focus is on the automation and electrification of these vehicles. In order to make them accessible to all potential customers, ergonomic requirements should be considered from the beginning. The previous experiences with other vehicle classes as well as the legal framework conditions are to serve as a benchmark. On the other hand, existing challenges will be discussed, and necessary steps will be worked out. A result of this situational analysis shows that the currently available vehicle concepts do not fulfill all requirements. It is important to consider the vehicle and the barrier-free mobility chain (booking and paying for the journey or vehicle, as well as boarding, traveling, and alighting). Overall, the design of barrier-free mobility systems requires a process of both political and social rethinking in order to succeed.