Areas of Research

The analysis of mobility behavior contriutes to an integrated and strategically oriented approach to transport planning and is essential to the planning of sustainable transport services and infrastructures. The data and information used for this purpose must be collected properly and with high quality.

This results in the following two focal points within the research field:

1. Analysis of mobility behavior and traffic generation processes

Transport infrastructure and transport services are essential for the functioning of society and the economy. Transport facilitates mobility for people and goods and thus ensures participation in social and economic exchange processes. The analysis of mobility as well as of the source of traffic requires the use of social science methods and models. The research group works on the following topics:

• Identification of characteristics describing traffic behavior and mobility based on requirements of science and application of integrated transport planning
• Analysis of influencing variables and changes in traffic behavior, primarily using the survey tool "Mobility in Cities - SrV"
• Further development of methods for collecting high-quality data on mobility behavior while taking into account the comparability requirements within the SrV time series
• Development of standards for quality assurance in the collection, processing, and evaluation of data on mobility behavior
• Preparation and use of the extensive SrV database for the analysis of city-specific and city-wide developments in mobility behavior
• Traffic sociology causative research on traffic phenomena and development processes

The knowledge gained from these areas will be integrated into the other research fields of the professorship, in particular in the modeling of transport demand.

From this perspective, the long-standing scientific tradition of the Dresden University of Technology continues in the scientifically founded and practice-oriented collection of data on mobility behavior.

2. Integrated Transport Planning

Transport systems and mobility needs are subject to constant social, economic, and political change. Accordingly, transport and transport infrastructure must be adapted to current and anticipated future requirements and framework conditions, taking into account the respective interdependence of space, city, environment, economy and society.

For integrated transport planning, this results in the following research and work areas:

• Conceptual transport planning for regions, metropolitan areas, cities and municipalities, including the planning of networks and facilities for motorized, pedestrian and bicycle transport as well as local public transport and their links
• Location planning from a transport perspective, taking into account socio-demographic and socio-economic structures and other determinants of traffic development
• Qualification of integrated transport-development planning as well as scientific support and cooperation in the development of urban traffic development plans and concepts
• Design of traffic areas which take all usage requirements into consideration
• Physical networking of intermodel and multimodal mobility services, with particular emphasis on innovative solutions such as sharing or electric vehicle based offerings, as well as innovative technologies for information, navigation, booking and payment
• Integration of sharing services for cars and bicycles into urban mobility systems
• Concepts for promoting active mobility as a basis for liveable and healthy cities
• Further development of methods for the evaluation of transport-planning measures

Other possible topics:

• Autonomous driving
• Operational mobility management,
• Definition of multifunctional road cross sections, design and support of "learning spaces" for a new mobility culture, definition and measurement of the quality of street spaces
• For SrV: Improvement methods for measuring pedestrian traffic, possibilities for automated measurement of path chains and modal split values

The Department of Transport Demand Modeling focus their research and teaching on:

• Principle methods of traffic analysis and traffic forecasting
• Theoretical foundations, methods and procedures of transport-demand modelling of countries, regions, metropolitan areas, cities and municipalities
• Development of transport-planning consistent utility functions and their calibration
• Spatial laws and mathematical modeling of traffic in public transport
• Impact of information and communication technology on transport demand
• Traffic behavior of the people under the conditions of economy and society
• Determining the cause of traffic based on all traffic types
• Qualitative and quantitative considerations of the interaction of spatial planning, infrastructure (land use, transport networks, traffic facilities, traffic engineering, etc.) and traffic behavior
• Method of transport-planning evaluation, including the theoretical basics, in particular, value-added analyzes and cost-benefit analyzes, taking into account the premises of traffic quality, environmental compatibility, and economic efficiency

Improving safety is a top priority when designing road traffic facilities. Synergies to ensure traffic quality have to be developed in a targeted way. Under the direction of Univ.-Prof. em. Dr.-Ing R. Maier's field of "Quality and Safety" in the department of Traffic Engineering, the research focuses on the evaluation and optimization of the traffic flow of road traffic facilities for different road user groups as well as the further development of methods for increasing traffic safety.

This results in the following work and research priorities:

•  Safety analyses and traffic investigations for the further development of the planning and design guidelines for traffic systems on city roads, taking into account changing requirements (eg., demographic development and the increasing importance of non-motorized road users)
• Further development of approaches for the assessment of traffic systems using various quality measures (eg., reliability) and taking into account the future increased use of computer-aided methods (standardization of computer-aided methods)
• Research into strategies to increase traffic safety, especially for non-motorized road users
• Further development of models for action-sensitive mapping of the effects of safety-related traffic control
• Carrying out / supporting traffic safety concepts for medium and large cities taking into account the demands of the various road users
• Description of traffic safety using different methods (eg., behavioral, comparative, multi-criteria)
• Scientific accompanying studies of innovative design approaches as well as traffic control
• Security audit and advice in different phases of the planning process