Functions

Functions and location 

Essential and additional functions

Each mobihub contains a diverse mobility offer, with 5 essential basic criteria:

  1. parking space for car sharing
  2. a high-quality bicycle parking
  3. proximity to a public transport stop or collective transport
  4. safety (e.g. good lighting)
  5. easily accessible for everyone.

Next to the essential basic criteria, there are a few conditions as to install a succesfull and high-quality mobihub:

  • Proximity of other neigbourhood functions e.g. a maximum of 10 minutes walking distance (10-minute-hood).
  • Quality facilities (size of parking spaces, technical requirements i.e. charging stations, accessibility, lighting, sustainability of materials). Mpact and Autodelen.net recommend consulting with experts in order to achieve the quality required.
  • Infrastructural investments are part of a more general plan for shared mobility in the municipality or city.
  • Every mobihub has a unique name.
  • Clear and visible mobihub branding and signage.

Although the main function of a mobihub is mobility, other services could also be included. For example, they could provide opportunities for people to access information about neighbourhood activities, become meeting points, provide mobile food units, act as delivery and collection points for parcels and provide locker and storage facilities for bike helmets when using shared cars, etc. Depending on the features and needs of a neighbourhood, a mobihub may also be useful to apply to business parks, shopping areas or housing projects.

Locations

Mobihub municipality or city

Today, a cluster of mobility can often be found in the centers of cities and municipalities: a car sharing stand next to a bicycle parking or in the vicinity of a bus stop for example. We can easily convert these places into full-fledged mobihubs. As soon as all criteria are met, the mobihub receives the necessary branding.

Mobihub shopping area 

Shopping areas need good accessibility. In order to avoid that such areas can only be reached by car, it is useful to also invest in a mobihub with a wide range of mobility alternatives. This means that visitors do not necessarily have to own a car and it does not stop them from going to the shopping center. By providing a (preferably ecological) delivery service, visitors do not have to carry their heavy purchases and a visit to the shoppingcenter is even more pleasant.

Mobihub business parks 

Mobihubs are also possible on industrial sites or SME zones. If these are not accessible for traditional public transport, they could be served by other forms of collective transport. In business parks, carpooling is a suitable solution for reducing the number of car trips. A mobihub can serve as a stop and promotion site for carpooling.

Mobihub ‘Park & Ride’

Park & ​​Ride car parks are the perfect location to bring together various types of mobility. Often there already is a public transport stop and sufficient parking available. This offers a perfect location to install a high-quality bicycle parking or to provide a carpoolparking.

At Park & ​​Ride parkings people park in the city periphery (preferably with a shared car from a different mobihub) and choose a sustainable alternative for the last kilometers. Or people can leave the city center by bike and continue with a shared car at the Park & ​​Ride. In this way, we avoid unnecessary cars in the city.

Rural areas 

For rural areas, customized transport and basic accessibility play an important role. At first sight, these places do not seem suitable for car sharing. Yet there are plenty of good examples in Flanders where car sharing works, often serving as an alternative to the second car. In rural areas, for example, private cars or cars of the municipal fleet are shared. In Heuvelland there is a special collaboration with the organisation ‘Solidariteit voor het Gezin’. Autodelen.net, Infopunt Publieke Ruimte and Mpact like to share the positive experiences and like to contribute to innovation concepts for shared mobility in rural Flanders.

It is also possible that a location does not lend itself to be recognized as a mobihub. Nevertheless, it can be an important link in the opening up of the neighbourhood. As a municipality, you can invest in clear signposting to the various mobihubs in the wider environment.