1. The Research Initiative UR:BAN

The automobile and road traffic have made in the course of their joint development great progress. Still, to be ready for the future, the entire transport system has continuously to meet new and higher requirements. Each trip shall be traveled safely, efficiently and comfortably. The progressive urbanization leads to more and more people living in urban areas. The additional large number of commuters and supply transport should not be underestimated. This moves mobility spaces increasingly into the urban space and individual traffic using cars represents the majority.

Heterogeneous user requirements lead to conflicts and reduced efficiency in a limited urban space. In industrialized countries such as Germany 85% of the population live in the urban area. While especially outside Europe but partly also in Southern Europe a clear trend toward megacities with several million inhabitants can be observed, urbanization in Germany happens in a variety of medium‐sized cities, as well as some major cities. These agglomerations are adjacent to a core city and reach out to a far area. They are characterized by strong commuter flows with mixed traffic (car/motorcycle/bicycle, passengers of public transport, pedestrians, etc.). This leads to increasing mobility needs in the urban context and suggests to focus research activities towards an efficient urban mobility.