Integrated Transport Planning: From Supply- to Demand-Oriented Planning. Considering the Benefits

Abstract

The idea of integrated transport planning is widely accepted in the research community as well as in the field of transport policy. However, the actual implementation is still lagging behind. Acknowledging the gap between concept and reality, the benefits of a demand-oriented approach have to be reconsidered by the various stakeholders in politics, the economy, planning and civil society. In order to address this issue, we created a factual use-case by redefining empirical data (qualitative interviews) from Berlin, which our department collected in 2013 for a research project on e-mobility. The initial objective was to find out what kind of charging infrastructure would be necessary to persuade on-street parkers in densely-populated inner city areas to switch to e-mobility vehicles in the future, basically following the conventional ‚predict and provide‘-approach characteristic of traditional transport planning. In the course of the research, we decided to go against the directive and switched perspective completely in favour of a demand-approach, enquiring into people’s needs, which otherwise would have remained unidentified and invisible. Rather than creating the data to support proposed planning interventions, our method led to a much more sustainable, bottom-up planning strategy in line with the social and ecological benefits of an integrated transport planning approach and revealed the real mobility needs of people living in inner-city areas of Berlin.