Information for potential commissioning institutions
Table of contents
Challenge
In municipal transport planning, debates about long-term, cost-intensive concepts and projects are part of the daily agenda. In this context, increasingly scarce resources must be used as effectively as possible, and controversial debates should be informed by scientifically robust evidence. A proper assessment of the risks and potentials of transport planning measures largely depends on the quality of the information and data such considerations are based on. In critical cases, the use of outdated data can lead to misjudgments and expensive misinvestments and may even jeopardize the legal soundness of decisions.
The project "Mobility in Cities – SrV" offers interested cities and municipalities, public transport authorities, transport companies, and transport associations the opportunity to close some of the existing data gaps. A key element at the local level is the survey design, developed according to scientific standards and based on the findings of mobility research. In addition, decades of experience in the standardized processing and analysis of complex datasets guarantee high-quality data and insights into the status quo of everyday mobility, including at the cross-city level.
Advantages
The more cities participate in a SrV survey, the lower the costs per city. At the same time, the data available for cross-city and comparative scientific studies increases. The results of these studies in turn benefit the SrV partners in the form of scientific papers and research reports.
The cost-effectiveness, the alignment with transport planning needs, and the scientifically robust survey design are prompting more and more cities to become partners in this joint project. This enables them to assess their transport development both in terms of their own objectives and in comparison with other cities.
In addition, participation in a SrV survey offers further advantages:
- The uniform survey design allows for a meaningful comparison to similar cities (benchmarking).
- The survey is repeated every five years, thus reliably continuing the existing time series.
- The SrV standard in terms of content and methodology ensures the comparability of results within the SrV time series.
- It is also possible to analyze specific areas of cities if the sample size is increased.
- The standard analysis includes a wide range of figures relevant to transport planning. It can be extended by city-specific additional analyses.
- SrV data are tailored to requirements of common transport models.
- Combining individual cities into city groups makes it possible to analyze modeling-relevant indicators for which samples of individual cities are usually too small.
- Local cooperation (e.g., between a city and transport companies) in commissioning the SrV surveys creates synergies. Sharing the costs among several partners allows for larger or additional samples, which in turn enable more spatially differentiated analyses for the city itself or for the surrounding areas. At the same time, this improves the comparability and consistency of data among different stakeholders in the respective area.
- The alignment of important content-related and methodological survey characteristics with the national survey Mobility in Germany (MiD) opens up further possibilities for analysis and comparison.
- It is possible to apply for funding by the federal states.
Organization
In the SrV surveys, TUD Dresden University of Technology cooperates closely with cities, public transport authorities, transport companies and associations, as well as the survey institute responsible for the field work.
The Chair of Mobility System Planning acts on behalf of the commissioning institutions and is responsible for the scientific direction and coordination of the survey, working closely with the SrV partners. The Chair is responsible for the following tasks:
- Developing of the survey concept
- Developing of the survey materials
- Tendering and awarding the contract for the fieldwork
- Monitoring the progress of the fieldwork
- Processing and analyzing the data
- Documenting the results
Participation
© IVST
Research Associate
NameDr.-Ing. Frank Ließke
Auftraggeberkoordination SrV
Send encrypted email via the SecureMail portal (for TUD external users only).
Visiting address:
Gerhart-Potthoff-Bau, POT 216 Hettnerstraße 1
01069 Dresden
Office hours:
Mon-Fri (by appointment only)
The next iteration of the SrV survey will take place in 2028. TU Dresden has begun preparations for the SrV survey 2028 at the beginning of 2026.
A digital information event for all interested municipalities and institutions will take place on May 4, 2026. Further information as well as the link to the registration form can be found on the SrV 2028 page.