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Doris BÄUMER Research Institute for Regional and Urban Development, Building and Construction of the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia (ILS NRW) Deutsche Strasse 5 44339 Dortmund Germany Phone ++ 49-(0)231-9051-260 Fax

++ 49-(0)231-9051-280

E-mail [email protected]

Come together – Involving housing companies in mobility management actions

The flat as “hub” of mobility

Nearly 90 percent of all trips in Germany start at home and therefore home is one of the most important sources for traffic. Accessibility of traffic systems is one of the determining criteria for the choice of the means of transport. In the suburban area e.g. public transport is significantly more often chosen, if there is a connection to a railway system. However, according to a German survey, the percentage of the choice of public transport is comparatively low, even in areas having a good level of service. To influence mobility behaviour and to push sustainable means of transport, mobility management concepts for housing quarters are of very high importance. To make the population of certain housing quarters choose sustainable means of transport, new concepts of mobility services have recently been developed. The occupants should have comprehensive supplies for their mobility as close as possible to the flat, in order to let them organise their everyday life by using the ideal means of travel without being dependent to the own car. Meantime good conditions for short distances have to be maintained as well as created.

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Housing companies as co-operation partners for mobility offers

Some housing companies have recently become new and valuable partners to create alliances for these kinds of mobility management services. Through the co-operation of e.g. transport companies and housing companies synergies with win-win situations arise. In the recent history the trend could be noticed, that in terms of housing the traditional business areas habitation and building are being substituted through new services not belonging to the property sector. Product-orientation and social services are contents of new marketing-strategies. For the housing industry mobility management for residential areas is a significant new marketing-strategy, in order to -

make the core product more attractive for the customers

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to let the service-provider profile as being ecological and innovative

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to show proximity to customers

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to maintain their loyalty and

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to win new customers.

The offers are getting specifically interesting for the housing company, if it is able to offer uncommonly inexpensive mobility products to the customers and if expensive parking places can be saved because of the mobility offers. Altogether synergies originate advantages for both partners. New chains of distribution result through the new cooperation partner. Each target group can be addressed through specific marketing strategies. New delivery areas can possibly be opened up through the “major customer” housing enterprise. Moreover the customer does not have the need to contact the provider by own initiative, but he gets the mobility product directly. In addition more planning reliability and assured financing exists through the co-operation contract with the housing enterprise. For cities and communes as responsible public body for urban and traffic planning mobility management for residential areas means to contribute to ecological traffic and sustainable development of urban areas. In particular the chance exists that residential quarters in the city centres will be graded up and that new mobility offers contribute to a lower car-density and to a reduction of urban sprawl through migration. Ecomm 2004 – page 2

How it started ...

The first mobility management service in the housing context – car-sharing for condominiums – is offered by the housing company “Gemeinnützige Wohnfürsorge AG” in collaboration with the car-sharing company “Stadtteilauto” in Munich since 1995. The first intermodal offer was founded in 1996 in Hamburg. Under the slogan “Wohn mobil” the association “Gessner & Raap GbR” offered its tenants a ticket for public transports, bikes to hire in a parking garage and an own car pool for car-sharing. These projects meant an important impulse for the development and redesign of mobility management in residential areas for existing as well as new habitation.

Approach

Basically two different kinds of mobility management in residential areas have to be distinguished: 1) services that are designed for a specific housing quarter and are limited to tenants living in this location; 2) services that are available to all tenants of a specific cooperating housing company regardless of their place of living. For example, cycle parking garages are only required in some quarters, but an offer for rebated tickets for public transports is useful in every quarter. In most cases an offer for car-sharing implicates an opening of a new station in proximity, but meantime the housing company can design an offer, which provides price-reductions to every customer in the whole city. All projects already realised show, that the choice of a certain offer depends strongly on target groups and the people on site. Car-sharing and rebated public transport tickets as a first offer are significant focal points for those projects. The experience of today shows a broad range of possibilities and mainly successful projects.

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Mobility management in residential areas – some examples

Tickets for tenants The housing company as “major customer“ gets an allowance by taking a certain fix and big amount of tickets from the transport company and is so able to offer cheap public transport tickets to their tenants. The conditions conform to the local/regional tariffs and have to be negotiated with the responsible transport company.

Mobility houses The idea to offer mobility houses for was developed for a home-project in NeussAllerheiligen by the North-Rhine-Westphalian ministry for urban development. The houses in this development area shall be sold including the purchase of a public transport ticket valid for 5 years. The building owner does not only purchase the usual car parking, but obligatory also a ticket for the regional public transports to use the nearby train stop. An analogue project was implemented near Hanover in Langenhagen-Weiherfeld.

Tenant cars Offers for car-sharing by housing companies can be distinguished in open and exclusive offers. Open offers do usually occur in co-operation with the local car-sharing company. The car-sharing station is installed near to a residential quarter and the inhabitants may drive the cars by rebated conditions, but the offer is open for everyone. Whereas exclusive offers are only available for the tenants of the housing company that provides this offer.

Parking garages for bikes Secure bicycle-parking in apartment buildings means often the obligation to drudgingly carry the own bicycle into the cellar. Parking garages for bikes close to the entrance, theftproof and protected against bad weather, provide a comfortable placement. If there is not enough space for a bicycle park on private estate, a parking garage on public space is possible under certain conditions.

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Starting packets Profound information and knowledge about local mobility alternatives and services are an important precondition for every choice of means of transportation. The best mediums for customer information are both journals for customers and tenants and web presence. Placards near the entrance of apartment buildings are possible as well. But special information for new customers should be provided through starting packets. These packets content manifold information about mobility offers, time tables and maps about the district.

How ILS tries to push these ideas ...

Mobility management services for housing companies in Germany are in the early stages. Current projects are mostly just implemented. Their success is quantified by the amount of demanded products / services. Consolidated findings about the effects concerning e.g. changing in mobility behaviour, winning over the consumer and winning new consumer through the actions, aren’t available yet. And they are far away from being well known inside the transport planning and housing companies community. In order to change travel behaviour in a more environmental way the theoretical potential of these mobility management services is certainly high. But whether it will be a success in reality on a large scale, depends on the willingness of the housing and transport companies to develop and integrate new mobility services as well as on the willingness of local authorities to give an impulse for co-operation. To promote this promising co-operation ILS NRW developed pilots and started the onlineinformation network “Housing plus Mobility” (http://www.wohnen-plus-mobilitaet.nrw.de). It acts as a platform to exchange and transfer ideas and project experiences, because good practice and its positive effects might convince others to follow. One interesting example of the work of ILS NRW is the mobility management service of “VBW Bauen und Wohnen GmbH”. Details of the co-operation, the approach and the service products as well as some other examples are going to be presented in the workshop no. 7. Ecomm 2004 – page 5

VBW mobility service

The VBW BAUEN UND WOHNEN is the biggest urban housing company in Bochum (the Ruhr area) owning about 14000 and administrating 2000 other rented flats. The company is aiming at auxiliary services concerning its property for customers and prospects. During a symposium of the ILS the company had been indicated to the service field “mobility services for customers of the housing industry” and has started to think about certain offers.

Co-operation of research and practice

In order to use concrete previous experiences of other companies and projects VBW consulted the ILS to support them developing new concepts. Different parts of the new “VBW-mobility service” have been discussed, target groups specified and particular locations acquired.

Finally the decision was made to search for possibilities to realise offers for public transport. The local transport company “BOGESTRA” was contacted and the ILS acted as co-ordinator and mediator between these two local enterprises. The marketing experts of the transport company pricked their ears, when they heard about a rebated public transport pass for tenants and a starting packet for new customers, which provides information about the local public transport and a coupon to test the local means of transportation for one week. Both partners negotiated very constructive and co-operative about modalities of financing, duration, ways to distribute, marketing and design. A contract was made, mutual advantages and obligations were put down. Of course this co-operation contract meant a certain risk for both sides: The VBW had to adhere to a minimum purchase of tickets, the BOGESTRA feared to lose money through customers, who change their conventional ticket subscription into cheaper tickets for tenants.

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VBW ticket for tenants for registered customers

As new co-operation and distribution partner of BOGESTRA the VBW offers its tenants a ticket for tenants since October 2003. This does not mean having a new ticket, but purchasing existing ticket offers of the regional association of public transport companies “VRR” with a rebate of 11,5%. “Ticket for tenants” is only a catch phrase for potential customers, who are supposed to buy existing ticket subscriptions for pupils, adults and pensioners. Although the price advantage of 11,5% is crucial criteria to campaign prospects, the new product has to be publicised and communication to tenants intensified. So the VBW informed about the new offer by sending individual correspondences to every tenant household. The put included a brief description, conditions how to purchase the ticket as well as an order form. Moreover placards were hung up in the VBW customer centre and in their residential areas, the own website and tenant journal advertised the offer, too. In order to make the advertisements being recognised, the VBW took the layout of its corporate-design, but the BOGESTRA as their partner was clearly identifiable. Finally the two companies prepared a concerted press conference for the local press when starting with the sale of the ticket for tenants.

In addition the BOGESTRA taught every tenant and object custodian of the housing company, thus those persons having close contact to the tenants, about the conditions and modularities of the ticket for tenants. For the circulation of the new offer existing tenant initiatives, contact persons from residential areas for pensioners and interpreters were integrated.

So far efforts and risks taken were profitable for both partners: 3 month after the start of the ticket for tenants ca. 830 tickets had already been sold. It is a particular joyful fact, that every third ticket for tenants was demanded by a new customer. VBW and BOGESTRA are content with the present sales figures, but a concluding result about the ticket for tenants and its continuity has to be articulated after the yearlong probation period. Ecomm 2004 – page 7

VBW starting packet for new customers

VBW mobility service offers a starting packet for about 1200 new customers annually. This packet offers them among some information (like time tables of public transports in special quarters or during the night) a free 7-day trial of local public transports. The new tenant gets this ticket for free in order to let him get to know the choice of buses and trains and test them without obligations. The VBW custodian submits the starting packet to the new tenant directly after having signed the tenancy agreement.

Further modules of VBW mobility service

Constant adjustment and advancement of its mobility service is necessary, if the VBW wants it to establish as a long-term attractive service field. Because of the successful start the VBW thinks of broadening the mobility offers. The company considers a co-operation with the local car-sharing contractor. But less extensive services like providing local and regional traffic information on the VBW website (e.g. timetable changing) are possible as well as current reporting about the mobility service (to make customers not forget it).

The VBW mobility service has recently been nominated as best-practice example of the North-Rhine-Westphalian Agenda 21 theme “climate protection and sustainable mobility”. By giving this award the government of North-Rhine-Westphalia appreciates innovations through this project, quickens activities of VBW and suggests to imitate its efforts.

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