In Kiel, Germany, an innovative collaboration is underway to transform the region’s approach to mobility data, with a specific focus on bicycle transportation. This initiative is part of the "Data for All" project involving 19 partners from seven countries. The German pilot is driven by the partnership between key organizations including KielRegion, the Heinrich Böll Stiftung Schleswig-Holstein, the German Aerospace Center (DLR), aconium GmbH, and the University of Oldenburg (UoL). Together, these partners are crafting a forward-thinking pilot project that prioritizes mobility and transport data. With an emphasis on bicycle mobility, the project seeks to inspire municipalities and regions to manage mobility data more efficiently, while also developing innovative methods to enhance the usability of various mobility services and systems for residents.
Defining the Kiel Pilot Use Case
The Data for All German pilot partners have zeroed in on a specific use case in the city and region of Kiel to advance regional bike mobility. This use case focuses on the mobility sur-rounding the local football stadium of Holstein Kiel, a key venue that attracts significant crowds from across the state of Schleswig-Holstein. The stadium's central role as a major transportation hub made it a compelling choice for piloting data-driven mobility solutions, as it significantly impacts mobility patterns within the city and the broader region.
The KielRegion, in collaboration with project stakeholders, began by conducting a detailed stakeholder analysis. This analysis aims to identify relevant datasets from various stakeholders and foster their active involvement in the pilot project. By consolidating these diverse sources of mobility data, the project team hopes to create a comprehensive data foundation for ad-dressing bicycle mobility challenges. Concurrently, the University of Oldenburg launched a survey targeting all project partners to gain deeper insights into their challenges and needs concerning data interoperability, which is a cornerstone of the pilot initiative.
David Manthey, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung SH:
"Data-driven mobility solutions offer a lot of potential to address a city’s sustainability challenges by optimizing transportation systems, reducing emissions, and improving resource efficiency. However, ensuring the city's sovereignty over its own data is equally crucial to safeguard privacy, foster trust and maintain control over critical infrastructure decisions."
Developing a Data-Driven Smart Bike System
The pilot partners conducted a comprehensive review of data sources and the needs of regional stakeholders. This review informed the initial conceptualization of several key use cases, including a predictive utilization model for the regional rental bike system and a logistics management system for improving its operations. Additionally, a draft concept for a regional mobility monitoring pilot was developed to track and analyse mobility trends across the Kiel Region.
The University of Oldenburg played a pivotal role in examining sample data provided by KielRegion’s mobility partners. By combining this data with historical weather records and weather predictions from external sources, the team sought to identify patterns and insights that could support smarter mobility decisions. A promising use case emerged from this analy-sis: predicting the demand for bikes at specific rental stations using artificial intelligence (AI). This predictive model was realized as part of a student thesis, serving as an initial exploration of how data interoperability can be applied to the German pilot.
The results of this early study demonstrated the feasibility of using a query-based interoperability approach to analyse and integrate diverse datasets. While this research prototype highlighted potential extension points for query support, it also underscored the need for further development to achieve practical applicability. The university’s work opened the door to deeper collaboration with external or application partners to refine and scale the prototype.
Martin Guth, aconium GmbH:
“The stakeholder analysis has identified a strong regional network of stakeholders from different areas who all have a common interest: Data-driven traffic optimisation around the Holstein Kiel Stadium. The findings of the stakeholder analysis play a key role in the further development of the pilot.”
Enhancing the Regional Rental Bike System
One of the most practical applications of the Smart Bike System in Kiel is improving the logistics management of the regional rental bike system. Rental bikes play a crucial role in promoting sustainable urban mobility, but their effectiveness depends on ensuring that bikes are available where and when users need them. By leveraging AI-driven demand prediction models, the project aims to optimize the placement of rental bikes across stations, reducing bottle-necks and enhancing user satisfaction.
To achieve this, the pilot team continues to define new, more practically-oriented use cases. Discussions are also underway about conducting a comprehensive needs analysis for Kiel’s rental bike system. Such an analysis would provide valuable insights into user behaviour, operational challenges, and opportunities for service improvement. The goal is to create a smart-er, more responsive bike-sharing system that aligns with the city’s broader mobility objectives.
Building Interoperability and Collaboration
Data interoperability is a core focus of the Smart Bike System initiative, as it enables the seamless integration of datasets from different sources. During a partner meeting held in Kiel, the University of Oldenburg delivered a presentation on data interoperability, sharing key insights and pitching its survey to project stakeholders. The meeting also included a presenta-tion by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) on the GAIA-X initiative, a European cloud infrastructure project that emphasizes data sovereignty and secure data sharing.
The GAIA-X framework is particularly relevant to the Kiel project, as it provides a model for ensuring that mobility data remains under local control while enabling collaboration across stakeholders. By leveraging GAIA-X principles, the Smart Bike System can foster trust among partners and ensure compliance with regional and European data protection standards.
International Knowledge Exchange
The Kiel pilot is not operating in isolation. Prior to the partner meeting in Kiel, the German pilot partners met with their Dutch counterparts to exchange knowledge and discuss progress on their respective pilot projects. This international collaboration highlights the shared challenges and opportunities in mobility data governance across Europe. By learning from each other’s experiences, the German and Dutch teams aim to accelerate the development of innovative mobility solutions that can be scaled across regions.
Vision for the Future
The Smart Bike System in Kiel represents a bold step toward harnessing the power of data to transform urban mobility. By focusing on bicycle transportation, the project aligns with the city’s commitment to sustainability and its efforts to reduce carbon emissions. The integration of AI-driven demand prediction, stakeholder engagement, and data interoperability demonstrates the potential of data-driven solutions to address real-world challenges.
Looking ahead, the project has the potential to serve as a model for other municipalities and regions seeking to enhance their mobility systems. The lessons learned from the Kiel pilot can inform the development of similar initiatives across Europe, contributing to a broader shift toward smarter, more sustainable cities.
Conclusion
The Smart Bike System in Kiel, Germany, is an exemplary initiative that combines data strategies with a focus on local needs and sustainability. Through collaboration among key partners, the project is building a foundation for smarter bicycle mobility, enhanced rental bike logistics, and data-driven decision-making. By addressing challenges such as data interoperability and stakeholder coordination, the initiative is setting a new standard for regional mobility governance.
As the project progresses, its focus on innovation, collaboration, and sustainability will undoubtedly yield insights and solutions that benefit not only Kiel but also other municipalities and regions across Europe. By prioritizing data sovereignty and fostering cross-border knowledge exchange, the Smart Bike System demonstrates the transformative power of data in shaping the cities of tomorrow.