Retail and (autonomous) transportation

At the annual conference of the Mobility and Transportation Working Group (Ak MoVe) in Aachen on June 25, 2026, Sebastian Hoffmann and Johannes Weyer presented the initial findings of a study conducted as part of the NeMo.bil project that simulates the mobility behavior of people in the Paderborn area.

While an unregulated introduction of on-demand shuttles does reduce car use, it also comes at the expense of public transit and active mobility—especially among environmentally conscious travelers. This is consistent with the findings of a recent DB Regio study on autonomous driving: Traffic in city centers is increasing, which harms the attractiveness of retail. Without additional measures such as parking management, the negative effects will outweigh the positive ones.