Prof. Henkel and Dr. Timmer are convinced that the threat of traffic collapse in cities and metropolitan regions can be avoided best by convincing huge corporations to rethink their corporate mobility offers for employees. On average, every German driver spends 46 hours a year in traffic jams resulting in enormous financial, ecological, and social costs. Prof. Henkel and Dr. Timmer investigate commuting behavior from a customer point of view. They aim to design and test mobility solutions. that cater to the needs of both the single commuter and of society at the same time.

First, they conducted an empirical survey among 421 German car commuters to identify drivers and barriers of switching behavior (Timmer et al., 2023). The aim of the following study was to learn more about what triggered switching behavior in the past. Prof. Henkel and Dr. Timme therefore analyzed why employees of a huge German insurance company and a public employer switched from mono- to multi-modal mobility. Based on their findings, they conducted consulting field studies to design better, more attractive multi-modal mobility packages. To forecast the effectiveness of these packages, they did a stated preference experiment study among 386 employees of different firms and branches who currently predominantly use business cars for commuting.

Prof. Henkel and Dr. Timmer address one of the most important societal and environmental challenges of our time. Through the involvement of large German corporations, their research has laid the ground for more sustainable mobility solutions at these companies.

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Timmer, Sebastian & Bösehans, Gustav & Henkel, Sven. (2023). Behavioural norms or personal gains? – An empirical analysis of commuters‘ intention to switch to multimodal mobility behaviour. Transportation Research Part A Policy and Practice. 170. 10.1016/j.tra.2023.103620.