The way we move from A to B constitutes an important part of our lives. Whether we prefer private or public transportation, it should be fast, safe, and convenient. Since the establishment of common means of transportation in the 19th and 20th century, the requirements for mobility have increased. Transportation needs to become cheaper, safer, more sustainable and even more entertaining. At the d.confestival Inga Schlichting, Deutsche Bahn; Jury Witschnig, BMW Group; Tino Klähne, Lufthansa Innovation Hub; and Benedikt Groß, moovel lab, explored visions for the future of urban mobility, moderated by Franziska Krüger.

Think of mobility as a service to really make it human-centered

The mobility sector needs a transformation. To create innovative mobility solutions for the future, it won’t be enough to look only at the respective vehicle and its operator. You have to view cities as ecosystems, consider the people living in urban areas and what quality of life means for them. On this Thursday afternoon in September, all panelists in the d.circus stress that mobility needs to be seen as a service to become really human-centered. To create impact, mobility companies need to work together and focus on the complete travel experience for the customer, not just the technology.

Jury Witschnig shares BMW Group’s vision “for a future world of mobility focused on people and their individual mobility needs”. When his team began to apply Design Thinking, they did not start from the perspective of the driver as they normally would have, but with people living in the city. Their insights show that in the future, mobility needs to be tailor-made so that “every person can get where they want to in the way that they want.”

However, “urban mobility not only shapes the lives of the city’s inhabitants. It heavily influences how visitors experience it”, says Tino Klähne from Lufthansa’s Innovation Hub.

Inga Schlichting admits thinking of transport as a service model and further developing it from the perspective of the customer is a new approach for Deutsche Bahn. The corporation wants to make transport more modern, more accessible, and more user-friendly. To do so, Deutsche Bahn is creating new modes of individualized public transport. Recently, they have been running successful pilot projects on autonomous driving.

Although the industry is aware of the necessary changes the world of mobility needs and is enthusiastically working on solutions, questions remain. These include how to increase sustainability and how to handle limited space in urban areas. Our panelists are ready to tackle these challenges as well and look forward to designing the mobility of the future.