Automotive and traffic technologies

The increase in passenger and freight traffic represents a great challenge for transport infrastructures, logistics and technology. Studies forecast an increase in freight traffic of about 70 percent between 2004 and 2025. However, the space that can be used for roads, railroads and goods handling is limited. In addition, congestion causes considerable economic damage which can be reduced with intelligent infrastructures.

---

Nine out of ten accidents are caused by human error - improved vehicle technologies can reduce or even prevent road accidents. Demographic change also influences transport and infrastructure systems. While a reduction in the volume of traffic can be expected for some regions, goods transport in conurbations will increase considerably and individual mobility will change significantly.

Environmentally sustainable mobility

A rise in the volume of traffic also means an increase in environmental and climate policy challenges: Today, transport is responsible for about 20 percent of all CO₂ emissions and about 70 percent of mineral oil consumption. It also causes noise which is harmful to health. The Federal Government's climate protection objectives therefore begin with transport: lower emissions of greenhouse gases, greater energy efficiency and a higher percentage of renewable energies. Technological solutions and innovative approaches are to be developed under the High-Tech Strategy. They are necessary to meet increased transport demands in future and satisfy the need for the safer, faster and more sustainable mobility of persons and goods. At the same time, the Federal Government has set itself the task of making Germany Europe's most modern logistics hub.

Vehicles and transport - a very important market with a future

Logistics, the automotive industry and trade are the three industries with the biggest turnover in Germany. The following data indicates the economic importance of the mobility and transport sector:

• About one job in seven in Germany depends directly or indirectly on the automotive industry. The industry had a turnover of almost 300 billion euros in 2007 and employed about 750,000 people.
• Before the onset of the financial and economic crisis, German logistics companies made an annual profit of 180 billion euros. The logistics industry leads the field in German industry with regard to training places and also has an additional employment potential of about 20 percent. About 2.6 million people - in all fields of industry - are employed in logistics.
• Tourism registers 3.4 billion day trips and one-day business trips each year. These generate an annual gross turnover of 156 billion euros.
• The railway industry earns 53 percent of its turnover of 9.1 billion euros in the field of exports.
• Deutsche Bahn and local passenger transport services carry 9.3 billion passengers each year.
• The German shipbuilding industry had a turnover of 5.5 billion euros in 2007.
• The shipbuilding and offshore supply industry is the biggest exporter worldwide. With 76,000 employees and a turnover of twelve billion euros it ranks second in the world, after Japan.
• The German aerospace industry spends an average of 20 percent of its turnover on research and development and is therefore one of the most research-intensive and innovative industries.

Balance and prospects

With its High-Tech Strategy, the Federal Government is focusing on innovative concepts and technologies to carefully develop growing passenger and freight traffic. The aim is to maintain Germany's position as an international leader in vehicle, traffic and transport technologies in the long term.

Mobility - energy-efficient and climate-friendly

The Federal Government's objectives in the field of climate protection also affect mobility. Germany has set the course for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2020 with its High-Tech Strategy and the Federal Government's comprehensive package of measures under the Integrated Energy and Climate Programme. Steps are to be taken to relieve or eliminate the strain caused by individual passenger transport. This applies in particular to the high use of resources and space, to noise and carcinogenic emissions.

Tax benefits for environmental protection

As of 1 July 2009, the Federal Government's energy and climate programme is therefore changing the basis for the motor vehicle tax from cubic capacity to CO₂ emissions. This will have no effect on revenue. The Federal Government is thus providing an incentive to buy vehicles which consume less fuel and are therefore more economical.

In addition, economic stimulus packages are providing an important incentive for people to purchase modern, environmentally friendly cars: Vehicle owners are exempted from motor vehicle tax if they buy a new car by 30 June 2009. In addition, everyone who purchases a vehicle which complies with Euro 5 or Euro 6 standards is exempt from motor vehicle tax until the end of 2010.

If we are to ensure mobility in the long term alternatives must be found to conventional combustion engines using fossil fuels (petrol, diesel, gas). Vehicles of the future will be powered by an electric engine, i.e. fuel cells, hybrid cars or battery operated cars. These reduce dependence on oil imports and make a decisive contribution to reducing CO₂ emissions.

The Federal Government wants to make the German market the lead market for electro-mobility. It has established an interdepartmental coordination platform with its "National Development Plan for Electro-Mobility" as part of an integrated energy and climate programme. The aim is for science, industry and politics to develop a joint strategy from basic research to market introduction. The entire value added chain is to be taken into consideration - from materials, components, cells, batteries to the overall system and its application. The plan was launched at the national strategy conference on electro-mobility in Berlin in November 2008.

The Federal Government is also investing 500 million euros in application-oriented research in the field of mobility under its second economic stimulus package. Funding is being provided for environmentally friendly engine technologies, enhanced competences in electrochemistry and in the industrial production of lithium ion batteries. This will strengthen Germany's international competitiveness as well as protecting the climate.

Germany as Europe's most modern logistics hub

Modern traffic and transport systems must be oriented to meeting the growing needs of people and markets. This calls for investments which improve transport and mobility both quickly and lastingly. The "Mobility and Transport Technologies" transport research programme, which is led by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi), takes up these objectives in three priority areas: intelligent logistics, infrastructure, and mobility for people in the 21st century. Modern transport management is to make public passenger transport and passenger and freight rail transport more attractive and efficient.

In order to promote mobility across national borders, the Federal Government also supports international collaborations which help to solve road- and rail-related problems.
So far, the programme has helped Germany significantly on its way to becoming a logistics hub in Europe.

Project Example
Intelligent traffic lights
A research team has developed an intelligent traffic light system which reacts to the actual traffic situation. These modern traffic lights help to save time and protect the environment. The project is part of the BMWi-funded research initiative AKTIV (Adaptive and cooperative technologies for intelligent transport): 29 partners from the automotive and supplier industry are working together to find solutions which channel traffic in the best possible way and provide individual support for drivers in potential accident situations.

 

The planned optimization of freight traffic requires a strategic concept from which specific measures for the future of freight traffic can be derived. The Freight Traffic and Logistics Master Plan, which was published in 2008, supports the transport research programme.

The Master Plan sets the course for tomorrow's transport requirements. It acts as a guideline for strategic action in the field of transport policy and shows how an efficient infrastructure can be ensured. It also contains ideas on how to make transport more energy-saving, more efficient, cleaner and quieter. Over 700 experts from companies, trade unions, politics, industry, environmental associations and science were involved in a two-year process of developing the plan under the leadership of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs (BMVBS).

 

Innovation alliances and strategic partnerships

The following innovation alliances and strategic partnerships which pool forces in the fields of politics, science and industry have been established in the field of "Mobility":

Automotive electronics (IAE)	CO2 reduction, safety/motor vehicle: Future-oriented automotive electronics are to increase eco-friendliness and the safety of all road users.
Hydrogen and fuel cell technology (NIP)	New propulsion technologies: Hydrogen and fuel cell technology will be developed in mobile and stationary applications and prepared for introduction onto the market.
Safe intelligent mobility - Germany as a testing ground (SIM-TD)	Traffic management and safety: The aim is to make traffic safer by means of innovative vehicle communication (networking between vehicles and traffic control centres) and to prevent congestion.
"door to door" ticket (E-ticketing)	Simple and comfortable mobility: Developing an electronic fare management system for local public transport will pave the way for a nation-wide standardized ticket.