Around 36% of Germany’s population lives in rural areas, and about 90% of them own at least one car per household, significantly higher than the national average of 80% (infas et al. 2025). Rural areas still lack innovative mobility solutions that drive the transport transition, are accepted by the public and do not restrict social participation. Within the CTran research project, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of Transport Research, supported by the federal mFund program and various project participants, explored which specific climate-friendly and socially inclusive mobility solutions could be implemented in the former Lusatian lignite mining region. The project generated valuable insights.
Initially, CTran aimed to co-develop alternative mobility services, such as on-demand buses, carpooling, cargo bike sharing, or e-bike sharing, through an innovative app-based survey involving local residents. However, due to low participation rates, researchers shifted their approach to digital focus groups and an in-person stakeholder workshop in Cottbus.
This more direct engagement provided deeper insights into the region’s specific characteristics, governance structures, and the everyday mobility needs of its residents. The discussions revealed that some innovative solutions already exist, for example, self-organized carpooling initiatives coordinated via messenger apps.
However, these grassroots solutions mainly emerge as a response to what is perceived as a significant lack of viable alternatives, especially when compared to urban areas. Long waiting times and poorly connected routes were identified as the main barriers to using public transport more frequently. Participants clearly favored improving traditional public transport over relying on decentralized or ad hoc mobility services, which were often seen as temporary or inferior solutions.
Issues such as safety and risk tolerance are perceived as particularly important by people living in rural areas. While urban populations are already more familiar with innovative and shared mobility services, such as cargo bike sharing or carpooling, people in rural regions often still experience greater hesitation and safety concerns toward these new options, as highlighted in the focus groups.
According to DLR transport researchers, better integrating the perspectives and everyday practices of people in the Lusatia region, along with more widespread real-world testing, could help address these concerns. Some administrative stakeholders also noted that more consistent and targeted marketing strategies for alternative mobility services in rural areas could further support their adoption.
Ultimately, it is not only about technological solutions, but about fostering acceptance of and trust in new mobility services in rural areas, while carefully considering sociocultural factors and people’s everyday realities.
Among participants in the focus groups and workshops, there was generally limited awareness of existing funding programs and support schemes for alternative mobility solutions in rural areas. Yet such funding could play a crucial role in sustainably supporting grassroots initiatives that emerge from civil society and directly address local mobility needs. At the same time, administrative stakeholders who are familiar with these funding opportunities pointed out that they often lack sufficient personnel and financial resources to even apply for such programs, let alone implement them.
Therefore, the CTran project highlights that research methods themselves sometimes need to be adapted during the course of a project to fit specific local conditions. At the same time, the project made clear how strongly the gap between rural and urban mobility services is perceived, and that people in rural areas are primarily calling for better integration into public transport systems. Finally, the researchers identified a mismatch between the existing funding landscape for alternative rural mobility and the local knowledge and capacity needed to actually make use of these opportunities.
As project lead Julia Jarass concludes, “Part of the key to establishing alternative mobility solutions in rural areas may lie in adopting a shift in perspective, placing people themselves, along with their specific circumstances and needs, at the center.”
