Mobility in Transition – Providing Innovative and Sustainable Solutions for Transport and Traffic in a Dynamic Global Environment from a Transdisciplinary Perspective

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to highlight scientifically sound ways to innovate and bring about sustainable change in mobility against the background of ongoing technological advancement and dynamic changes in social requirements. Mobility will be addressed at different levels—both in terms of transporting goods and in the movement of people.

In order to effectively counter negative effects of increasing mobility, such as increased pollution and the excessive consumption of non-renewable resources, as well as to meet the changing demands of dynamic societies regarding the design of mobility concepts, extensive measures remain necessary. Approaches to reducing the excessive use of resources by traffic appear to be necessary and sensible in order to identify and develop previously untapped innovation potential for the reimagining of mobility concepts.

The coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated the tremendous power and dynamism with which processes of change have disrupted the status quo in our globally networked and increasingly digitized world and with which established mobility habits have experienced sudden change. The unleashed digitization has created new options for replacing physical mobility with communication and virtual traffic on the one hand, and generating new traffic on the other, for example through increased online shopping.

Existing research does not adequately deal with many of the aforementioned factors of social mobility, especially when it comes to analyses with a transdisciplinary approach. Above all, work is required in the following areas:

• technical innovations for reducing emissions and resource consumption;
• organizational innovations that increase resource efficiency or reduce the use of resources and make mobility more flexible;
• innovative mobility concepts, against the background of diverse and dynamic requirements and motives of an individual and social nature;
• ways to ensure desirable acceptance of new technical solutions and new mobility concepts, as well as ways to identify mobility-related needs or to nudge changes in behavior.

This Special Issue is just as open to findings from basic research as it is to specific case studies. Contributions from various disciplines are welcome—from STEM disciplines as well as from economics and social sciences. The following are listed here as examples:

• Transport and Traffic Sciences;
• Engineering;
• (Behavioral) Economics;
• Psychology; and
• Media and Communication Studies.

Special emphasis will be placed on transdisciplinary perspectives that deal with applied issues in integrative approaches, amalgamating methods from different disciplines.

This Special Issue, entitled "Mobility in Transition", aims to report on current results and research approaches with regard to the further development of technical and organizational ideas for future-oriented mobility, thereby contributing to a more efficient mobility of goods and people that is better for the environment, stakeholders, and future generations.

Mobility-related issues will be addressed on the basis of clearly described research methods. Original works from various disciplines involved in the research areas described above are welcome, ideally pursuing a transdisciplinary approach.

We expressly encourage young researchers and research groups (doctoral students) to report on their research results.

Dr. Anna Martius
Prof. Dr. Peter Lund
Prof. Dr. Lutz Hagen
Prof. Dr. Jörn Schönberger
Guest Editors

Abstract and Paper Submission Information

For planned papers, there will be (1) a process of preselection on basis of title, extended abstract and short abstract and (2) an invitation to selected authors to submit a paper.

Title, extended & short abstract should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. The abstracts can be submitted until the first deadline (31 January 2021). Papers can be submitted after the invitation until the second deadline (31 May 2021). All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted papers should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). An application for funding is possible via the special issue guest editors. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.