State Mobility Award 2021

On 28 April 2022, the award ceremony of the State Mobility Award 2021 took place in Vienna's Sophiensälen. Our colleague Jonathan Fetka was awarded third place for his excellent diploma thesis on the potentials of urban underground logistics, opens an external URL in a new window! Congratulations!

On the potential of underground freight transport

The thesis examined whether and in what form a shift of freight traffic into dedicated underground tunnels in cities could reduce undesirable traffic effects. In this framework, an exemplary system was designed that pursues the goals of both emission reduction and relief of particularly congested street spaces.

The results show that such a system could absorb considerable parts of urban freight traffic and reduce its emissions by up to 50 percent. In particular, heavily affected entrance roads could be relieved of truck traffic and street space could be freed up for other uses. The construction costs of the underground transport system are also significantly lower compared to the construction of an underground.

A number of interesting developments and projects are currently underway at the international level. With increasing consolidation and practical experience, it will become apparent whether these hypothetical potentials can one day become reality.

About the State Mobility Award

The State Award for Mobility is the highest award of the Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK), opens an external URL in a new window  for mobility innovations. In 2021, the motto of the State Award was "innovations for climate protection“, opens an external URL in a new window.