Transport Development and Mobility Plan 2030 (VEP 2030)

While transport refers to vehicles, infrastructure, timetables, etc., mobility is the ability to travel the distance between A and B. People today want to be comfortably mobile and are generally not fixated on a particular mode of transport. In addition, we are all much more mobile than we used to be and the general conditions have also changed.

A VEP must therefore be more than a plan for car traffic that is as trouble-free as possible. The goal of the city of Erlangen was to develop a holistic and integrated VEP, with the help of which environmentally compatible, efficient and sustainable structures can be created in Erlangen in terms of traffic. In addition, new forms of mobility are required as well as networked thinking, digital mobility offers and modern mobility management. The VEP 2030 has succeeded in doing just that.

In summary, the objectives are based on the following fundamental considerations:

• The goals of the VEP 2030 should include and bundle all modes of transport
     
• The goals should be geared towards sustainable urban and transport development
     
• For the elaboration of the goals, the greatest possible social consensus should be found
      
• The goals are to be adopted by the City Council

The philosophy of the VEP 2030 Erlangen includes the early and comprehensive involvement of the entire population. From the very beginning, all citizens were called upon to participate and clearly express their opinions. At the heart of the participation concept: the Forum Transport Development Plan, in which virtually everyone felt represented and which met regularly. Among others, important interest groups, associations, initiatives, the city's major employers and employees were represented. The forum met from November 2013 to December 2020 a total of 19 times.

The forum traffic development plan did not make any decisions, but accompanied the entire process, advised the experts and made recommendations. In addition, there were working groups, information events, online participation, city walks, etc.. In addition, the current status was always published on the homepage of the VEP and in the social media. Maximum transparency on a topic that concerns everyone!

The VEP 2030 sees Erlangen as part of the region and does not end at the city limits, but includes the surrounding area as well as neighboring cities such as Nuremberg and Fürth. The attractiveness of Erlangen attracts not only employers and employees, but also residents and visitors from the entire region. This generates traffic that must be steered into sustainable paths.

A large amount of information is needed for all of this. So data was collected and evaluated for years. In the view thereby both the development up to today and the prognoses for the year 2030. On the basis these data measure recommendations were developed, in order to reach the goals of the VEPs 2030.

As tool, in order to estimate the effects of the planned measures and work purposefully the traffic model DIVAN was used. This is a database with constantly updated information on the number of inhabitants*, employees and students at the level of individual city districts. In addition, the traffic model maps the existing road and street network in Erlangen and the surrounding area. It also provides information on the traffic load of individual streets. The traffic model even provides a forecast for the year 2030. It is thus an important decision-making aid for traffic planning, because if the results confirm the desired goals, the respective concept can be pursued further.

The VEP 2030 highlights all mobility options in Erlangen - from car sharing to walking. For sustainable mobility, it is important to consider the different types of mobility besser interconnect and thus strengthen diversity. For this purpose, so-called mobility points are implemented in the city area. At these, all modes of transport will be offered and interlinked. This includes bicycle parking spaces, possibly a bicycle rental system, parking spaces for cars, public transport stops and car-sharing vehicles - and all of this accessible on foot from densely populated residential areas and the locations of major employers.

Public transport (ÖPNV)

Public transport in the city of Erlangen is in great need of expansion, especially for routes beyond the city limits. Making buses and trains more attractive can therefore provide very effective incentives to encourage commuters in particular to transfer. The VEP 2030 provides practical solutions for attracting more passengers to public transport. These include direct connections without transfers, a stronger orientation of bus lines at the locations of large companies and the university, as well as the Stadt-Umland-Bahn (StUB). The latter is intended to link Erlangen with Nuremberg in the south and Herzogenaurach in the west and, in the long term, with Eschenau in the east. In that the StUB is both a classic inner-city streetcar and a regional light rail system, as well as being connected to the road network by park-and-ride stations, it is a prime example of the symbiosis of different types of mobility.

Motorized traffic

Two freeways, a federal highway, and several state and county roads run through Erlangen. Who wants to reach a certain destination by car, often has several options for this. Negative consequences are a high proportion of motor vehicles in the total traffic as well as associated noise, exhaust fumes and an immense demand for space for driving and parking.

The VEP 2030 therefore aims to bundle motor vehicle traffic on suitable roads and at the same time to relieve the other roads of motor traffic through appropriate measures. To this end, a preferred network of first- and second-order roads has been developed. Incoming roads from important neighboring towns are also taken into account; this is because through traffic and interurban traffic in particular are to be concentrated on the preferred network.

In addition to the road networks, the vehicles themselves will change. To be prepared for more electric cars, the VEP 2030 provides for the expansion of public e-charging stations. Such charging columns for e-cars should also be located at mobility stations.

Resting traffic

Traffic includes not only the flowing, but also the stationary. Parking cars, motorcycles, trucks and bicycles need, space and that is very scarce especially in the city center. In addition, the space for pedestrians can be narrowed if parts of the sidewalks are used for parking. This reduces both the quality of stay and traffic safety.

In order to develop a parking concept that is fit for the future, the most important goals were developed based on the current conditions and areas for action. Topics such as the reduction of sidewalk parking, the restructuring of the tariff systems or also the multiple use of parking spaces are to be successively addressed. The planned measures will result in the loss of parking spaces in the city center area, which is to be compensated for by suitable solutions. This includes, among other things, the promotion of Park&Ride and the Umweltverbund to reduce trips by private car in general.

Bicycle traffic

The conditions for cycling in Erlangen are good: short distances, little gradient and a well-developed network of cycle paths.  Therefore, Erlangen is already called a bicycle city. Nevertheless, the share of cyclists* in the total traffic can be further expanded.  So that also those sit down more often on the wheel, which take at present rather the car, must become cycling in Erlangen simpler, faster, more comfortable and safer.

Therefore a large range of improvements was considered. Radschnellverbindungen, a densification of the cycle path network, cycle-friendly pavements, priority for cyclists*innen at important axes and the release of one-way streets in both directions, for example. But also mobile bicycle racks and more bicycle lean-tos. The goal of all this is to make cycling safer and more attractive. The bicycle traffic share is to increase significantly in the inland as well as in the total traffic until 2030. 

Pedestrian traffic

A part of every journey is made on foot. The VEP 2030 wants to support this environmentally friendly, space-saving and also healthy form of mobility specifically - for example, with sufficiently wide and free sidewalks, the guidance of the most important footpaths through traffic-calmed areas and speed 30 zones, signposts also for pedestrians, better crossing possibilities and an increased quality of stay. Within the framework of the VEP 2030, corresponding quality standards for footpath connections were created, which will be taken into account in future planning.

In addition to promoting pedestrian traffic, its importance is to be demonstrated and pedestrian traffic is to be anchored as an independent mode of transport in the city administration, politics and the public.

Mobility management

Mobility management can be understood as mediation between the mobility offer and the transport demand or the mobility needs of the different target groups (citizens*, companies, etc.). Corresponding measures can be: communication, information, advice, motivation, education and training. The unifying goal here is to promote more sustainable mobility.

Through permanent and systematic mobility management, mobility behavior can be controlled in a targeted manner and around five percent of private motor vehicle traffic can be avoided or shifted. For this reason, corresponding projects are to be implemented in Erlangen. Mobility management offers should initially be directed at the target groups of new citizens, large companies, children and young people, and students.

The overall traffic concept elaborated and coordinated in the traffic development and mobility plan includes numerous individual measures. Their implementation is intended to achieve the strategic goals of the VEP 2030. Care was taken to ensure that the concepts, including their measures, can be implemented within ten to 15 years.

The implementation results, progress and effects will be reviewed in depth by an accompanying evaluation in order to adapt or revise the contents of the VEP if necessary. The VEP 2030 is therefore not a completed project, but will be continuously developed and gradually implemented in parallel. In this way, the VEP 2030 can adapt to actual traffic, economic and social developments. This is important, because the momentum of Erlangen, but also the long-term effects of Corona on traffic behavior in the future can only be estimated in rudimentary form at the present time. The same applies to the introduction of the 365-euro ticket or the e-ticket, the more diverse use of cargo bikes, and developments in (partially) autonomous driving and electromobility.

Next upcoming projects include the implementation of a parking concept for the city center, the updating of the local transportation plan, and the planning for high-speed bicycle connections to Nuremberg, Herzogenaurach, Fürth, and Bamberg. Bicycle lanes are also to be redesigned or established to a uniform standard. Furthermore, a revision of the municipal parking space statutes is planned for 2021. The intensive exchange with the citizens*innen as well as the further interest carrier*innen is to be maintained thereby.

With all these projects the traffic development and mobility plan develops the mobility in Erlangen continuously further and makes it futureable. Ultimately, the traffic flows in the city should be designed so compatible that the citizens* like to live in Erlangen.