About the KAMO Performance Centre & the Country to City Bridge project
The KAMO Centre of Excellence in Karlsruhe brings together the expertise of leading institutions in research, teaching and technology transfer to drive forward innovative mobility and logistics solutions.
KAMO’s flagship project, Country to City Bridge (C2CBridge for short), is investigating alternatives to private cars, particularly for connections between urban and rural areas.
The aim is to develop a sustainable mobility service using autonomous, connected on-demand shared taxis that can be deployed flexibly and in line with demand. By linking these with mobility hubs and existing transport services, the project aims to create new, integrated solutions for future-proof mobility.
Contents
Assessing mobility needs in peri-urban areas
• Study design
• Exemplary results for Marxzell
• Willingness to use an automated local bus service
• Outlook
Planning the mock-up hub at KIT Campus East
Preliminary study on interchange points
Vehicle transfer
Assessing mobility needs in peri-urban areas
Study design: Online surveys were conducted for the C2CBridge project in the two municipalities on the outskirts of Karlsruhe: Marxzell (approx. 5,000 residents) and Waldbronn (approx. 13,000 residents).
The aim of the survey at ITAS was to gain a nuanced picture of everyday mobility and activity patterns. – Which modes of transport are used for which purposes, which activities take place within the municipality, and for which do people leave their place of residence?
A key methodological feature of the survey is that respondents can specify for themselves which activities they carry out, where they take place, and what modes of transport they use. This allows activities such as shopping or other errands to be further broken down (e.g. by individual shops) and enables an analysis of situation-dependent decisions regarding destinations and choice of transport. A total of 2,957 people took part in the survey, of whom 780 were from Marxzell and 2,177 from Waldbronn.
Sample results for Marxzell
The survey in Marxzell reveals some initial trends.
• Outward-looking everyday provision: Shopping (particularly for food) and many care and health-related errands are predominantly carried out in neighbouring municipalities or in the nearest regional centre, Ettlingen, due to limited local provision.
• Local roots of social activities: Day-to-day needs (e.g. bakery, butcher’s), club and voluntary activities, as well as many social visits, take place within the municipality and are usually carried out on foot or by bicycle.
• Diverse leisure patterns: Recreation and individual sports are predominantly practised locally, whilst cultural and event-related activities mainly take place outside the municipality, particularly in Karlsruhe.
• High car usage for journeys across municipal boundaries: Journeys to neighbouring municipalities (e.g. for shopping) are predominantly made by car.
• Active travel within Marxzell: Active travel (walking and cycling) certainly plays an important role within Marxzell.
• Low use of public transport, with a few exceptions: Public transport is mainly used for journeys to Ettlingen and Karlsruhe (S-Bahn connection), but plays hardly any role for journeys within the town or to neighbouring municipalities – a potential starting point for flexible on-demand services.
Willingness to use an automated local bus service
The survey also sought to ascertain how participants would rate their willingness to use a new local bus route operated by autonomous shuttle buses if such a service were offered in their town. Participants in both municipalities expressed a general interest: in Waldbronn, the level of interest in using the service was slightly lower than in Marxzell. In both municipalities, there are clear differences based on gender and age: men are more likely to express a willingness to use the service, and younger respondents tend to be more open to using autonomous buses. At the same time, older age groups do not categorically rule out the service, but rather tend to say they would prefer to wait and see. However, particularly among the middle-aged groups, more people state that they do not use public transport at all, regardless of whether it is autonomous or not. In Waldbronn, it is predominantly older age groups who state that a driverless vehicle makes them feel uneasy, whilst in Marxzell, interestingly, even the youngest participants express this sentiment.
Outlook
The results suggest that an automated public transport service could well be an attractive option for certain people, for example for shopping or leisure activities in neighbouring municipalities, or to ensure connections to train stations heading towards Ettlingen or Karlsruhe.
Exactly under what conditions and in which situations this applies will be investigated qualitatively as the project progresses. To this end, empirically based mobility types will be derived from the survey data, which differ in terms of daily routines and choice of transport. Representatives will then be systematically invited to take part in qualitative (focus group) interviews. Such an initial qualitative investigation has already begun at ITAS as part of a Master’s thesis.
Planning of the Mock-Up Hub at KIT Campus East
Preparations are currently under way to set up a mock-up hub on Campus East for testing purposes. The model that has already been developed will serve as the basis for this. Everyone is eagerly awaiting its practical implementation on site.
Preliminary study on C2CBridge interchange points
As part of a Master’s thesis, a preliminary study on interchange points was carried out in April 2026 in a virtual environment. Using virtual reality headsets, participants involved in the C2CBridge project were able to experience and explore various mobility hubs in a realistic manner.
The aim of the preliminary study was to test a method for analysing intermodal mobility hubs and public transport stops, with a view to tailoring them optimally to users’ needs – particularly in combination with demand-responsive transport services. To this end, participants were presented with three digital models of mobility hubs within which they could move around freely. They were then given the opportunity to evaluate the different options and thus actively contribute to the further development of modern mobility solutions.
The study was the result of a collaboration between the Institute of Transport Engineering and the Institute of Design and Construction Engineering at KIT, as well as the Baden-Württemberg Institute for Sustainable Mobility.
Final handover & vehicle transfer
Our two test vehicles have been back at the KIT East Campus since mid-April 2026. Following the successful conversion carried out by the vehicle conversion specialist – including sensors, a ramp and actuators – we are now kicking off the next phase of the project here on site.
Next steps:
• Integration of the AD stack by the FZI Research Centre for Information Technology, and initial road tests at the KIT East Campus
• Initial design and testing of the trajectory tracking control system by Schaeffler
• Measurement of the installation space at the chassis conversion specialist with regard to fitting the damper system
We look forward to tackling the next steps together.