Mobility and Public Transport
Travel Time Penalty in Mins for the State of North Rhein Westfalen
The Background:
The last decade has seen an enhanced emphasis on promoting ÖPNV (Public Transport) as a step towards reducing the carbon footprint associated with the transportation sector (Zukunft des ÖPNV Study der Hans-Böckler-Stiftung). However, at the level of the individual consumer, using ÖPNV as opposed to a personal vehicle, comes with some concrete challenges:
The inflexibility associated with depending on ÖPNV, especially at night.
The higher costs associated with long-distance ÖPNV travel.
Unpredictable delays, especially in long-distance ÖPNV travel.
Longer travel time associated with ÖPNV within the city/town.
Relative inaccessibility of destinations that do not lie within the city boundaries with ÖPNV.
In this Application, we are trying to quantify the problem arising out of longer travel while using public transit in the State of North Rhein Westfalen, Germany. Additionally, we will also take a dab at quantifying the problem arising out of the reduced accessibility. But first things first.
The Map:
Below is a map of all the Gemeindes in the state of North-Rheinwestfalen of Germany. A Gemeinde is administrative unit that would correspond to a town or city. One can hover over a particular town and see the estimated travel time penalty. The travel time penalty is the estimated additional minutes that one needs when using Public transit versus a car, on average, when one is moving within the town/city. For example, one can see that the travel time penalty for Köln is 16.26 minutes ( not 16 minute and 26 seconds).
You can find the details of methodology in the section on Methodology below