NLThe term mobility hub is subject to some inflation. Hubs come in many shapes and sizes; the grass is greener at some hubs than others. Not surprisingly, national humour site De Speld joked that every place will be a hub from now on. High time for a clarification and insight into the future prospects of hubs. What is the true meaning of a mobility hub, or what should it be?
Hub ~ noun phrase ~ a device that is part of the infrastructure of a network.
Mobility ~ self noun ~ the movability or degree to which something or someone moves.
Mobility hub ~ self noun ~ meaning established in this article
The government does not assign one kind of meaning to mobility hubs, but uses different definitions. Before we pull the band-aid off the painful hub points and try to arrive at a harmonious mountainrip for the important future column of sustainable mobility, we will briefly introduce the different hubs.
A surplus of hubs
Region hub / transfer hub
In the official hub encyclopaedia, the two are separated, but because they are so similar, we are merging them here for convenience. These hub(s) form the link between (car) traffic from the rural region and multiple modes of transport within the city. With a P+R, bus, train, bicycle parking facilities and good bicycle connections. For the better hub spotters, they can be observed at the edges of cities or urbanised areas.
City hub
Nowadays actually (we whisper it) just synonymous with a train station. Adding as many mobility options as possible to the station enhances the attractiveness of the (urban) residential area. With catering and shopping facilities, transferring and lounging here is additionally encouraged. So isn’t hub just a new word for station?
Business hub
Usually found at offices and business parks. Sometimes in combination with a city hub. The term is pretty self-explanatory. With this hub, employees are better facilitated to get to work by public transport or bicycle. The focus is on shared (car) mobility. A car park on an office site with three shared cars and two bikes is often the idea.
Neighberhood hub
Also called neighbourhood transport hub, neighbourhood hub, shared mobility hub, or maybe even just: mobility hub! The hub of hubs. The hub that shows mobility hub its true mobility. Mitigating traffic congestion, limiting the nuisance of partial modes of transport, stimulating partial mobility and enriching the spatial quality of an area. The value of this hub is what we will mainly talk about in this piece.
The hub of hubs
In Rotterdam, the significance of mobility hubs has been increasingly taking shape for some time. In cooperation with municipal employees, more than 100 mobility hubs have been realised within a year. Or neighbourhood transport hubs. Typical Rotterdam style: don’t bullshit, but clean up. No lofty language about colossal parking garages topped by a complicated network of buses and trains, popularly known as train stations. Just bang on by putting up smaller hubs in many places, connecting the entire city like a big mold network.
These smallest-sized hubs, with a recognisable green HUB drop, house share bikes, share scooters and share carrier bikes. If possible near a parking space for shared cars. In a connective way, it alleviates the nuisance of illegally parked scooters in particular. This is reinforced by geofencing. As a result, no shared vehicle may be parked within a 200-metre radius of the hubs. A hub is then placed in places of concentrated nuisance. This requires the scooter to land in the hub or further away. Practice shows that the hubs are well found and the nuisance is limited.
Neighberhood happy, city happy.
Tightrope walkers of partial transport
Small mobility hubs reach a stable level within 3 to 6 months, is the finding. This proves their value. Then again, be careful not to clog up the city with too many hubs. There is no room for that and with 1,000 to 1,500 hubs (in Rotterdam), the city would fill up. And with the same money, other nice things can be realised – within mobility. In Groningen, they tried it and many people experienced it as a bus system. Because they were too rigid in terms of supply, people still had to walk large distances home.
The ideal mobility hub depends on location and it is a nice trapeze act for developers to preserve liveability and encourage mobility. The advantage of shared transport should be that you can take and leave a mode of transport very close to home as well as your arrival. The solution of hubs should not be taken to the point of undermining the benefits. If a hub is a connecting point between modes, doesn’t it make it easier to use those means if there are multiple points of transfer?
We advise not to get too caught up in the ‘high-minded hub talk’. Hubs should work and connect. So we easily set up small hubs, local and creative hubs for real estate development or come up with innovative ideas or make a mobility hub work. Looking at what the practice, city, countryside or situation needs. We sometimes say: it’s the better real life simcity playing. We are happy to put our broad experience and flexibility in the field of hubs to work for your district or municipality too. Be sure to get in touch!
