Mobility is a key factor for sustainability
Prof. Dr. Knese, you have been Professorial Chair of Sustainable Mobility and Cycling at Frankfurt UAS since 2021. Is it an important achievement that the University successfully prevailed in its application for this Foundation Professorship?
It is indeed a success. More than 30 universities applied for the seven professorships that were posted nationally, with three of the professorships awarded to universities in Hessen, including our University. This attests to our University’s highquality profile in the field of sustainable mobility.
In 2016 you became sustainable mobility advisor at the German Society for International Cooperation [Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)], overseeing projects in Asia and Latin America. What makes the transition from the international arena to academia attractive in your eyes?
The transition enticed me because here at the University I have the opportunity to set the relevant topics myself to a much greater extent than I could in my previous line of work, which had its appeal as well. What I also find alluring is the work I do in this highly dynamic region with its multifaceted challenges in mobility and transport, not to mention the opportunity to work with many partners.
Namely?
We have already held our first cycling workshop with representatives of municipalities, associations and the business community. This is the way it ought to be because we are, after all, a University of Applied Sciences, and our focus is on practice-based work. Through the work we do and the practical application of our research and our teaching, we want – in cooperation with our partners – to achieve change for the betterment of our world.
Why is Frankfurt UAS the ideal partner for such analyses in the Rhine-Main region?
Because of the huge demand for evidence-based data before planners can prepare decisions that policymakers will need to make. The University is ideally positioned to collect and harness all of this data, as well as perform before-and-after analyses, also by also actively involving its students and guiding them through a learning process in and through the practical application of research – for example, together with the City of Frankfurt Cycling Office. In addition, knowledge and competencies from a large number of disciplines are concentrated here at the University – disciplines that are essential for integrated concept development.
You mentioned also the business community as partners in projects for more sustainable modes of transportation. How open is the business community to such a partnership?
Many business enterprises, particularly from logistics, are interested in sustainable concepts. They are looking for sustainable ideas both from a sense of inner conviction and because businesses need efficient processes if they are to survive. Companies specializing in logistics and mobility optimize their route planning, their vehicle utilization and their type of drive system. For example, e-mobility makes sense for short-haul urban delivery trips on plannable routes with high traffic volume. This is where cost savings can be made quickly over the vehicle’s total life cycle. At the same time, this reduces air and noise pollution.
Do companies interested in sustainable mobility need partners?
Definitely. To put it in their own words: we’re chomping at the bit, but there’s too little municipal support. It would be great if municipalities helped to reward the transition – by introducing designated parking and charging zones for electric vehicles, for example.
Is city logistics also an issue for businesses and municipalities?
Yes. Logistics companies operate large warehouses in the city outskirts but also need small logistics facilities – microhubs – within the cities that they are able to access outside of peak traffic times to deliver outbound goods by e-cargo bike, for example. Particularly courier and delivery services have long understood that bicycles are the ideal delivery vehicle. Logistics providers require space for these microhubs, however, and again this is where municipalities come in.
In the context of your work, what does sustainability mean to you?
Sustainability has accompanied me throughout my career. Not surprisingly, it is also the guiding spirit behind all GIZ projects. The way I see it, the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability are intertwined. Environmental impact is often what first comes to mind when people think about sustainability. But mobility is also essential for enabling access to participation in society, projects and services such as health and educational facilities and, of course, jobs. It has social and economic dimensions that are mutually interwoven.
Are the opportunities for sustainable mobility distributed unequally?
Yes, they are. People in rural areas do not enjoy the same opportunities for mobility, of course, as do people in conurbations. But also in cities there are barriers to mobility, one being price. Not everyone can afford to use public transport – we have no 365 euro annual public transport ticket as they do in Vienna. I see great opportunities here for mobility management in businesses, public agencies and also at universities.
Is it a structural flaw that discussions surrounding mobility are conducted mainly in conurbations?
In political and media discussions it would, naturally, be preferable for greater weight to be given to mobility requirements in rural areas – notably in the context of the social sustainability dimension. What we have to keep in mind at the same time, however, is that the outcome of the struggle to meet our climate and environmental targets will ultimately be decided in cities and conurbations.
What specific changes do you propose in terms of organizing mobility more sustainably in Frankfurt?
I wish I could give a blanket answer to that. What we really need are integrated concepts using multi-focused strategies for different areas. Strengthening local public transport is one of them. No easy task, to be sure, given the excessively long planning times in Germany. High-speed transit lines such as the Regional Tangente West have been in discussion and planning for decades. By contrast, changes in cycling can be implemented more rapidly. So rapidly, in fact, that it feels as though they take place overnight – like the introduction of pop-up bike lanes in Berlin, the Ruhr region, Munich and Hamburg in Corona year 2020. In China – as well as in many European cities like Paris – reallocation of road space has been implemented for many years now.
So is transport a key segment for enhancing environmental sustainability?
Absolutely. Transport accounts for one-fourth of all energy-related CO2 emissions. Whereas other emitters in Germany succeeded in significantly reducing emissions during the period 1990-2018 – households by 38 percent, the industrial sector by 33 percent, the energy industry by 30% and agriculture by 16 percent – transport has only managed to reduce its share by a mere 0.8 percent.
Why has road transport barely reduced its CO2 emissions?
For one, traffic volumes are up because of increased online shopping and number of home deliveries, for example; for another, we are seeing a trend towards larger vehicles like SUVs, which consume more energy. The desired reductions will not be achieved unless and until we introduce more ambitious CO2 pricing schemes or instruments – such as a bonus-malus systems.
In what ways might your cycling professorship help to improve the carbon footprint?
We could use the bicycle more, especially on short routes. For distances of between one and two kilometers, 53 percent of Germans still use private motorized transport; with the figure as high as 65 percent for distances of between two and five kilometers. Yet 80 percent of all households in Germany own a bicycle. What these figures clearly show is the vast energy savings potential that can be reaped from transitioning.
Corona poses a health risk, including risk of death, but will the pandemic at least have a lasting healthful impact on our mobility behavior?
We experienced a real bicycle boom during the 2020 Corona summer. I hope that people switching to bicycles will stick to their new-found mode of transport even after the pandemic is over.