Berlin joins Hamburg as a model region for mobility

Patrick Schnieder (CDU, left), Federal Minister of Transport, Ute Bonde (CDU), Berlin Senator for Mobility, Transport, Climate Protection and the Environment, and Anjes Tjarks (Alliance 90/The Greens), Hamburg Senator for Transport and Mobility Transition, stand next to a self-driving vehicle belonging to Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) after signing a joint declaration of intent for the mobility of the future.

The cities of Berlin and Hamburg are intensifying their cooperation on future mobility issues such as autonomous driving.

The framework for this is the so-called Metropolitan Model Region Mobility, which previously only existed between the federal government and the Hanseatic city, and which Berlin is now joining. Both states signed a corresponding memorandum of understanding in the capital.

Three Berlin projects included

The Mobility Model Region serves to develop digitized and networked transport projects and facilitate exchange between the federal government, the states, the EU Commission, and between industry and science. The memorandum of understanding mentions three existing projects in Berlin:

• The NoWeL4 research project, which is testing autonomous local transport on a larger scale in northwest Berlin.
• The "Digital Test Field for Urban Transport," in which the Senate Administration is bundling various research projects in the field of climate-friendly and autonomous mobility.
• The increased use of transport data, such as movement data from sharing providers, for better transport planning.

Closer cooperation between Berlin and Hamburg sought

There are already letters of intent between Berlin and Hamburg for closer cooperation, for example on local transport issues. Here, too, the focus is on autonomous driving. Last September, the transport companies of the two cities and Munich's transport company also agreed on a cooperation agreement that aims to develop a joint mobility platform and standardized distribution systems.