The Sustainable Urban Transitions (SUT) Lab was launched in April 2025 as a partnership of ETH Zurich and the Bolt Urban Fund, with the aim of supporting cities in accelerating their shift towards low-carbon, multimodal mobility systems. The SUT Lab aims to bring innovative, data-driven research into practical More
If you agree and would like to have a printed poster to hang on your wall – accompanying you for half a year with events in the fields of urban design, spatial planning, landscape architecture, infrastructure, and mobility – just let us know. We will be happy to More
To decarbonize urban transport systems, promoting active modes by allocating more road space to cycling infrastructure to achieve a radical modal shift has become a popular transport policy. However, such policies usually receive strong public opposition due to the concern of traffic congestion caused by reduced road capacity More
The new project FEDORA develops multimodal traffic management solutions in future networks. The Traffic Engineering group, IVT at ETH Zurich, will work on social optimum models, developing dynamic pricing and incentivisation models for traffic management applications, as well as a model-agnostic simulation platform for seamless integration of diverse More
Modern cities suffer from a multitude of stressors, including congestion, pollution and crises. AntifragiCity is a new European research project that aims to deliver better services to citizens through antifragile designs, with solutions that improve under real-world stress. The Traffic Engineering group, IVT at ETH Zurich, leads the More
Cycling as a mode of transport is on an upward trend as a low-emission alternative to driving in urbanised areas nowadays. With the increasing number of cyclists, it is of great importance to assess the capacity of cycling infrastructure in practice. Simulation models are useful tools to investigate More
The average trip length in Swiss cities is under 14km, with around 60% of trips below 6km. Despite the potential for healthier, more sustainable alternatives, nearly half of the total distance travelled is by car. Bicycles play a key role in recent initiatives (e.g. E-Bike City project from More
AntifragiCity is a groundbreaking European research initiative aiming to revolutionize how urban mobility systems respond to disruptions. Rather than merely resisting shocks, AntifragiCity envisions cities that learn, adapt, and grow stronger through challenges—embracing the concept of antifragility. To realize this vision, the project will develop a comprehensive framework More
The average trip length in Swiss cities is under 14km, with around 60% of trips below 6km. Despite the potential for healthier, more sustainable alternatives, nearly half of the total distance traveled is by car. Bicycles play a key role in recent initiatives (e.g. E-Bike City project from More
Federation of network optimisation services, simulation foresights, and data alchemy for adaptable, agile, secure, and resilient multimodal traffic management. Lack of orchestration, structured and standardized integration protocols and metadata descriptors, incorporation of real-world traffic complexities and nuances, underutilization of valuable resources, model uncertainties and integration of micro-mobility services More
Dr Hermann Patrick Braess (*1979), currently Technical Director and Head of Research and Development at TrackNet Holding Group (Tensol Rail SA and EFSA SA), as Professor of Practice in the Institute for Transport Planning and Systems (IVT), Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering. Hermann Patrick Braess is More
Automated vehicle technologies offer a promising avenue for enhancing traffic efficiency, safety, and energy consumption. Among these, Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) systems stand out as a prevalent form of automation on today’s roads, with their time gap settings holding paramount importance. While decreasing the average time headway tends More
The E-Bike City project’s design is anchored in shifting away from private car use, particularly for daily commuting. It does so by ensuring access to shared vehicle hubs within 200 meters (or another designated distance) of every residence, promoting convenience and accessibility.
If you missed the event «E-Bike City: Results & Future», have a look at the downloads and recordings section on this website. It offers a brochure, presentations, posters, video recordings, and street visualisations. May they positively impact our traffic situation and quality of life!
Cities can expand their bike lane networks significantly without causing additional congestion on the roads. That is the conclusion reached by the ETH research project E-Bike City. Project lead and transport researcher Kay Axhausen explains the implications for traffic, the environment and costs. Article on the ETH News More
Der ETH Master-Studiengang Raumentwicklung und Infrastruktursysteme bietet eine fundierte, interdisziplinäre Ausbildung in Stadtplanung, Mobilität und Infrastrukturmanagement. Durch die Verbindung von Theorie und Praxis entwickeln Studierende nachhaltige Lösungen für aktuelle Herausforderungen. In Kooperation mit Professorinnen, Professoren und Studierenden ist ein kurzes Video entstanden, um Studieninteressierte für diesen Fachbereich und More
FRESH is a research project funded by DUT (Driving Urban Transition Partnership) and national funders which is focussing on shopping-related mobility behaviour and urban logistics in Dortmund, Paris, and Trondheim. This research project aims to: assess how urban planning in different settings impacts integrated personal and freight travel More
Professor Eva Heinen is Full Professor and head of the group ‹Transportation and Mobility Planning› at ETH Zürich since June 2024. Eva Heinen’s interdisciplinary research looks at mobility and transportation at the intersection of sustainable development, transport planning, spatial planning, and health.
Car dependence brings along many negative social and environmental externalities that policymakers and stakeholders need to consider. Nonetheless, the concept is not well defined and lacks a clear framework regarding its determinants and mechanisms, which also leads to problems in terms of its operationalisation.
Die Verbesserungen der Verkehrsinfrastrukturen auf Strasse und Schiene können nicht wie ursprünglich geplant umgesetzt werden. Der jüngste Ausbauschritt für die Nationalstrasse wurde von der Bevölkerung abgelehnt. Die Umsetzung des Angebotskonzepts 2035 der Bahn führt zu erheblichen Mehrkosten. Das Eidgenössische Departement für Umwelt, Verkehr, Energie und Kommunikation (UVEK) hat More
Did you miss the NSL Forum and Cycling Research Board «Digital Twins for Europe’s Future Mobility», on September 4th? The video link is now available on the event website! In addition, for a quick read and an overview of the workshops, you can download the «Collective Manifesto for More
Most cities do not charge for driving. Do you think that is fair? It causes externalities such as noise and pollution to residents and shops. In peak-hours of congestion, valuable life time, money, and fuel are wasted. Do you think driving in the city should be priced? Do More
The reduction of energy consumption is an increasingly important topic of the railway system. Energy-efficient train control (EETC) is one solution, which refers to mathematically computing when to accelerate, which cruising speed to hold, how long one should coast over a suitable space, and when to brake.
Inference of detailed vehicle trajectories is crucial for applications such as traffic flow modeling, energy consumption estimation, and traffic flow optimization. Static sensors can provide only aggregated information, posing challenges in reconstructing individual vehicle trajectories.
Cities allocate dedicated road space to bicycles in favor of active-mode road users. For urban environments with a mass bicycle volume, bicycle traffic congestion is likely to occur. Hence, a thorough understanding of bicycle traffic flow is necessary for the assessment of cycling infrastructure and the development of More
Digital Twins for Europe’s Future Mobility 4 – 6 September 2024 | ETH Zürich, Hönggerberg, HIL E3 and HIT. Today’s design reflects the car-oriented consensus, which was formulated between the 1930’s and 1950’s and adopted around the world since then. The climate crisis challenges this orientation and asks More
Understanding how vehicles move is crucial for safer, more coordinated, and smarter transportation systems. However, directly observing vehicle trajectories is impractical, posing a challenge to obtaining accurate trajectory data with limited sensing capabilities. We explore our innovative approach to vehicle trajectory reconstruction, reshaping the future of traffic management.
On-Board Monitoring techniques, defined as using commercial trains to monitor the track status, have garnered much attention recently. While data come in relatively low quality, OBM is a low-cost and efficient alternative to traditional monitoring methods. Thus, funded by the ETH Mobility Initiative project OMISM, this study checks More
The railway system can fulfil society’s current and future transportation goals; compared to other transport modes, it does that with high energy, space and resource efficiency. It can deliver high-quality transport services, superior speed, safety and comfort to most competing modes. Nevertheless, its share of the total traffic More
Allocating dedicated road space to slow modes is considered an effective way toward a radical modal shift. By exploiting traffic flow theoretical knowledge, convenient models can be developed to help evaluate the influence of such a large-scale transformation on network traffic performance. Novel strategies for bi-modal urban traffic More