seven answers from Markus Barnikel

Statement: What I always wanted to tell the world about collaborative mobility

The first step is done – now we all need to work together so that the number of people that engage with this new form of mobility increases more and more. To make the niche into a mass movement – that is the challenge.

Dream scenario: How I wish the mobile world looks like in 2060

By 2063 the appearance of the street will have changed radically all over the world (I hope, even earlier). As well as E-vehicles and considerably improved local traffic in the cities, one thing will be very conspicuous: You will see almost nobody travelling alone. People will travel together which is economically and ecologically worthwhile. In this way we also solve many other problems such as parking shortages and traffic jams and people get to know one another.

My TOP-moment: In my eyes the biggest success in the history of collaborative mobility

Basically, that was the first Ridesharing-Center that opened in the 1950s, even if it was more a self-reflection than an innovation. Before private transport, which effectively started with the appearance of the car, people already shared the available means of transport. This though was the cornerstone of what we do today and of what is becoming more and more a mass movement because the advantages of shared mobility are so clear and the ideas behind it so simple.

My personal mobility behavior: How I move privately

For my daily travel to work I use public transport or a bicycle. For some inner-city appointments I use various carsharing-models and for longer distances of course I use mitfahrgelegenheit.de, provided that it is possible (with two young children it is not always that simple). Important for me is to travel smart, that is to find the most convenient solution for each purpose. My own car is often standing around and in principle is only used for family trips in the mountains.

Personal experiences with collaborative mobility: An incident which stayed in my mind

A very dramatic event was at a trade fair in Hanover. As I arrived at the airport, already late for my presentation, the public transport was completely paralysed and all the taxis where taken. As it turned out, all the buses and trains were on strike and there was no other possibility to travel from the airport to the city. After some long minutes, I saw a car driver with a sign on his car on which was written that he was going to drive to the fairground and would love to share his car. This example quickly got around and a little later the number of people waiting at the airport decreased. At this moment I realized that shared mobility works and immediately needs to be boosted.

The incident that sparked my interest in shared mobility solutions:

That is the time I was in the USA. There I had to travel to work every day for four hours. Even more than here in Europe, you have the impression that nearly everybody is sitting alone in his car and the carpool-lanes (special lanes for common commuting) are nearly always empty. Already during this period of my life I was interested in collaborative mobility and I wanted to participate in a sustainable solution against this inefficiency.

Ready for action: If I could, I would next…

…carry the idea of ridesharing into the world. The idea behind is so simple and we could solve a lot of problems in a very short time just through the fact that people ride together from A to B.