The focus of our station was on two interactive formats that encouraged visitors to think, discuss, and experiment.
Making Mobility Visible: Our Poster Station
One of the main highlights was two posters that addressed key questions regarding student mobility in Austria. Visitors were invited to share their knowledge and insights:
- What does the modal split look like for Austrian students?
- How has mobility behavior changed over the past decades?
- And why do traffic peaks occur particularly frequently in the morning hours?
It quickly became clear that many traffic peaks are closely linked to school commutes. The concentration of school commutes in the morning places a heavy burden on the transportation infrastructure—both in public transit and private vehicle travel. Making these connections visible and discussing them together was a central part of our presentation.
The simulation game “Who Flattens the Peak?”
A special highlight was the presentation of the simulation game “Who Flattens the Peak?”, developed specifically by the LML team. In this interactive format, players take on different roles that are significant for shaping everyday mobility. These include, among others:
- a transportation company
- a school administration
- a municipality
- the federal government
- a spatial planner
- a student council
Together, the participants develop solutions for school bus transportation in a fictional region. The goal is to identify measures that reduce the morning rush hour and get as many students as possible to school by bus. What makes the game unique is that it brings together different interests, responsibilities, and scopes of action. This brings to life just how complex mobility and transportation planning is in practice—and how important collaboration, communication, and coordinated decision-making are.
Enthusiasm and Engaging Discussions
Interest in “Who Will Smooth Out the Peak?” was enormous. We were particularly pleased that we were able to spark enthusiasm among many young people for topics related to spatial and transportation planning. The simulation game offered a low-barrier yet highly illustrative approach to issues that are often taken for granted in everyday life. Furthermore, it sparked numerous engaging conversations with visitors of all ages. Topics such as the climate crisis, the role of public transportation, questions of responsibility and collaboration, and the future of school mobility took center stage.
In the end, one big, shared question remained:
How do we want to get around in the future?
The Lange Nacht der Forschung has once again shown just how great the interest in sustainable mobility solutions is—and how important it is to involve people in this discussion at an early stage.
Lange Nacht der Forschung, opens an external URL in a new window (only in German)
land.mobil:LAB, opens an external URL in a new window (only in German)