In Rudersdal Municipality, where the private car is currently the preferred means of transportation, an ambitious pilot project with 60 shared cars and 200 shared bikes is changing habits.
The project, which is supported by the EU and led by the Capital Region of Denmark in collaboration with DTU, has shown that shared mobility can also take root in the suburbs - when done right.
"Rudersdal is a car-loving municipality. That's why it is important for us to emphasize that the project won't take anything away from the citizens. It will only give them more options for transportation," says Søren Koefod Bom, Chief Consultant in the Capital Region of Denmark.
Data for decision-making
The project includes a digital dashboard created by DTU that gathers and displays data on user behavior and mobility patterns. This tool is used by the municipality, region, and mobility providers to make decisions regarding the placement and modification of mobility hubs, which are locations where trips can be started or ended.
Associate Professor Laura Alessandretti at DTU Compute serves as the research lead for the project and has collaborated with Postdoc Antonio Desiderio throughout the process.
"We have developed the dashboard to help the municipality and all partners to monitor the use of car-sharing and bike-sharing," explains Antonio Desiderio, who acts as a kind of data miner – analyzing vast amounts of mobility data to determine how best to combine bikes, buses, and carpooling in urban areas."
"The dashboard collects data on user behavior and makes it possible to analyze where and when adjustments are needed."
The research team has, among other things, been able to document a clear connection between the use of car sharing and public transport:
"We can see that many shared car trips end near bus near stations such as Birkerød station or Holte station. This suggests that people use the cars as a supplement to the train. The same correlation is not as clear for shared bikes - but we still see that they are used for short trips between city centers and stations," states Antonio Desiderio.
Dott sees great potential
Bike sharing provider Dott has also learned from the pilot project.
"In the suburbs, we need to build the service differently than in the city center," says Juho Lindgren, Nordic area manager at Dott.
"Parking infrastructure and easy parking are key for people to start using our service. People need to be confident that they can get all the way there and not end the trip and walk the last mile."
Dott has therefore adapted their technology with visual guidance and Google Maps integration so that users can easily find the permitted parking areas. At the same time, the collaboration with DTU and the government bodies at both the regional and local levels have helped the private company understand where bikes should and shouldn't be parked.
"There are few patterns, that are puzzling to us. There is one hub near Holte station that only has ending trips and few or no starting trips, and we can't figure out why. But in generel being part of this project has helped us understand local infrastructure, regulations, and user behavior and adapt our operations in terms of parking zones and fleet size accordingly," says Juho Lindgren.
7 out of 10 know about shared mobility offers
The project has already had a clear impact on citizen behavior. A survey conducted by Epinion among over 1,200 citizens in Rudersdal shows that 7 out of 10 are aware of the shared mobility offers, and many have adopted them as a regular part of everyday life.
Users cite leisure, work and errands as the main reasons for using a bike share or car share - and up to 30% combine the solutions with public transport.
Since the project started in August 2024, almost 20,000 trips have been made with shared cars and over 15,000 with shared bikes. According to the Capital Region of Denmark, this exceeds stakeholder expectations and shows that shared mobility can make a real difference in the suburbs.
Although the project has yielded significant insights for mobility provider Dott, the establishment of a sustainable business model remains a future objective.
"We are on the right track at the moment, but we need more time to develop the necessary parking infrastructure and raise commuters' awareness of the value of bike sharing," Juho Lindgren concludes.
The pilot project runs until the end of July 2025 and is fully financed with EU funds. However, Rudersdal Municipality and the mobility providers have agreed that the project will continue for the rest of the year to gather experience for at least 18 months.
