Problem Statement 

Reliable and up-to-date data on mobility behavior is essential for policy-making, urban planning, and research. Current developments, such as new pricing schemes, like the "Deutschlandticket", have increased the demand for timely information. Furthermore, the need for regionally disaggregated data is steadily growing. While the existing building blocks of travel statistics in Germany provide comprehensive data, the surveys are only conducted at large, irregular intervals and do not sufficiently reflect short-term changes. Adding to this challenge, the established survey the “German Mobility Panel“(MOP) has been discontinued. Consequently, there is a gap in the continuous observation of individual behavioral changes in a longitudinal perspective. This hampers a deeper understanding of mobility dynamics and the well-founded evaluation of political measures. A new, modern survey instrument is therefore needed that leverages the advantages of digital technologies and can be efficiently integrated into the existing statistical ecosystem.

Objective

The overall objective of this project is to develop a viable concept for a new mobility panel within the framework of the modular "Mobility in Germany PLUS" (MiD+) system. This panel is intended to create the foundation for continuously recording the travel behavior of the German resident population on an intra-year and longitudinal basis. A core aspect is the generation of annual key indicators for everyday mobility (such as modal split and person distance traveled) to represent the entire resident population of Germany. The concept to be developed must be methodologically sound, economically efficient, and compliant with data protection requirements. The aim is to create an instrument that makes intra-personal behavioral changes visible, and captures current trends in a timely manner. A special focus is placed on significantly reducing the burden on participants while simultaneously creating the conditions to integrate new questions or methodological advancements without compromising the long-term comparability of the data.

Methods

The concept is being developed through an interdisciplinary collaboration between KIT (lead partner), BTU, RWTH, and Kantar. The project's methodology follows a multi-stage, structured approach along four central focal topics: conceptual framework, the survey design, fieldwork, and data privacy and processing. The approach is based on a scenario technique to derive consistent and future-proof model variants from a wide range of survey dimensions, such as sampling and data collection methods. Another essential step in the methodology is the empirical phase, which includes a pretest to investigate participant motivation and the suitability of tracking methods (e.g., GPS). Additionally, insights and assessments from experts gathered through interviews and workshops are integrated to validate the study design and scientific quality. Finally, based on this foundation, well-founded recommendations and an implementation roadmap for the future panel will be derived.