Green Living in Europe

Comenius project 2012 - 2014

Bergen Handelsgymnasium

(Bergen, Norway)

Heinrich-Hertz Schule

(Hamburg, Germany)

Topic Group: Transport

Jana Petri and Victoria Vestrheim

Content1. Introduction and central question p.4

2. Reports 2.1 Hamburg, StadtRAD p.5-6

2.2 Hamburg, Car2Go p.7-8

2.3 Hamburg, HVV* p.9-10

2.4 Bergen, Bybanen / Skyss p.11-13

2.5 Bergen, Bildeleringen p.14

3. Comparison (Table) p.15-16

4. Conclusion: 4.1 Discussion of the measures p.17-19

4.2 About the project p.20

5. References p.21

6. Further material p.22

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1. Introduction and Central QuestionHow is the transport organized in Bergen and Hamburg, looking at economic aspects, prices,

accessibility and capacity? Which are the cities’ best measures for “Green Living”?

During our trips through Hamburg and Bergen we got to know different types of transport in these

two cities, learning about their benefits and disadvantages.

In Hamburg we learned about the city’s public transport system “HVV” (Hamburger Verkehrs

Verbund) which runs the U- and S-Bahn (subway system and sub urban train system), busses and

ferries. We took a closer look at the new built U-Bahn line U4 and we also learned about the bike-

and car-sharing systems “StadtRAD” and “Car2Go”.

In Bergen we have mainly looked at “Bybanen”, the light rail, which opened in 2010. But there are

also many other types of public transportation: Busses to different city parts,”Bildeleringen” which is

a new car-sharing system , a ferry to Askøy and express boats to other cities, and finally the train to

Arna/Voss/Oslo etc. The transport system In Bergen and Hordaland municipality is controlled by the

company “Skyss”.

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2.1 Report from Hamburg: StadtRAD(25.04.2013)

General Information

StadtRAD Hamburg is a bike sharing system in Hamburg which opened in July 2009. At the moment

there are 130.000 users registered in Hamburg, a number which is growing every day. With this

enormous amount of users StadtRAD Hamburg is the most successful bike sharing system of the

“DeutscheBahn”, which has other sharing systems in other bigger cities in Germany.

Reasons for this huge success in Hamburg are the easy handling of the bikes and the eye-catching

placement and design. Also the name “StadtRAD Hamburg” with a relation to Hamburg attracts a lot

of people who live here. On top of this the prices are extraordinary low and affordable for everyone.

The bikes of StadtRAD Hamburg are all serviced regularly by the company and brought back to the

stations at night to make sure there are bikes provided at every station the next day.

Accessibility

StadtRAD has 122 StadtRAD stations all over Hamburg at the moment, providing 1500 bikes in bright

red. The stations are placed mainly at train stations, in the city center, residential neighborhoods,

shopping areas, places for recreation and popular tourist destinations.

There is an App which can be downloaded on the StadtRAD homepage which always gives the user

informations about the closest station and the number of bikes available there.

To hire a bike the user has to sign up either on the homepage or directly at any StadtRAD terminal.

This takes about 3min and costs 5€ but this money will be given as a credit for further use. After that,

the user can log in at every StadtRAD terminal either with his credit- or EC-Card or his member card,

which he can order from the company. Now the user only has to choose one of the bikes from the

station, which are all tagged with a 4-figure number. The procedure can also be done on the phone.

Capacity:

One user can hire two bikes at a time, but by calling the hotline it is possible to book more than two

for that day.

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Prices:

The first half hour of use is always free. After that, a normal user is charged 4ct a minute while

owners of a HVV seasonal ticket pay 3ct a minute. After one hour the charge goes up a bit, to either

8ct/min (normal user) or 6ct/min (HVV). The maximal price per day is 12€. If a customer reaches this

price after 3h 15min (for HVV seasonal ticket owners after 4h15min), he will not be charged any

more that day.

Economic aspects:

Especially in combination with the public transport system HVV, the bike sharing attracts a lot of

urban people, who can travel by train over longer distances and use the StadtRAD to reach their final

destination.

StadtRAD is a great alternative to private cars. It is not just 100% environmentally friendly but also

offers a lot of mobility.

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A busy StadtRAD station in the HafenCity

2.2 Report from Hamburg: Car2Go(25.04.2013)

General information:

Car2go is an international car-sharing company. You can find their rental cars in 17 cities all over the

world. Since 2011, there are almost a thousand cars in use in Hamburg. Car2go offers two-seated

cars (Smart). The benefit of this car type is its size. To find a parking spot in town shouldn’t be a

problem and in general Car2Go pays the charge of parking lots.

Special about the car-sharing is, that many customers use it just to get from A to B instead of hiring

the car for a whole day.

Prices:

It costs €19.99 once to enter the project, but you get 50km for free once you’ve signed up. Car2Go is

charged per minute. For every minute you pay 29 cents, and for one hour you pay only €19.90. To

hire the car for a whole day it costs €59. If you want to leave the car for some time, you only pay 19

cents per minute as long as the car is parked, and 29 cents a minute again afterwards.

If your Car2Go gas status falls under 25 percent, you can refill it at any Shell-Petrol station for free.

For this the user gets 20 minutes driving time for free.

Accessibility

In the region of Hamburg you actually find 994 Car2Go vehicles. You can spot them out on the

homepage of Car2Go, or you can download an app on your smartphone. Online you will find

information about the exact location of the cars, and general information about the car and the tank.

Furthermore you can reserve the car half an hour before you want to use it to make sure nobody else

takes it.

Economic aspects:

All of the cars are automatic, and they have an intelligent system to save petrol. At traffic lights, the

engine automatically stops and it restarts as you take the foot of the brake. This saves a lot of petrol.

Also the idea behind car-sharing is a big benefit for the environment: Car2Go offers the opportunity

to be mobile with a car without owning it yourself. This saves a lot of money for the user and

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prevents a lot of pollution for the environment. It also reduces the amount of parking space a city

needs as shared cares spend much more time on the road instead of blocking valuable space.

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A Car2Go parking in HafenCity

2.3 Report from Hamburg: HVV / U4(25.04.2013)

How is the Train system organized looking from economic aspects, prices, accessibility and

capacity? Why did they build the U4 line?

So how does the system work? Hamburg and London were the first cities that built a subway. There

are two types of trains: the S-Bahn (over ground train) and U-Bahn (subway). The U-Bahn has four

lines: U1, U2, U3 and the new U4.There are also several S-Bahn lines. Including bus lines there are

700 public transport lines. Underground and rapid transit services run at 5 to 10 min intervals in the

greater Hamburg Area to about 11pm on weekdays.

You can use the same tickets for the bus, train and the ferry as well, so it is not that expensive. There

are tickets for children, there are one-way tickets, tickets for a whole day, month, week and year

tickets. So you have a large selection to choose from.

We can find the train system all over the city, no matter where you are in Hamburg, you can always

find a station. The tubes are also very easy to use, and they come on time. If not, you don’t have to

wait long. One U/S-Bahn with a length of 120 meters can carry about 9,600 passengers. This is the

best, easiest and cheapest way to get around Hamburg.

The U1 and U2 lines both go through the city centre and then continue on to the outskirts of the city

where most people live. The U3 cirquits the main city centre of Hamburg. The new line U4 opened in

December 2012. It drives through the new district of Hamburg, “HafenCity” and the University, which

opens in summer 2013. The rail is not done yet, the next station will be finished in 2017. Both of the

new stations are very special. They both are very big, and have a theme in their design. The first one

is called “Überseequartier” and is designed with an underwater theme, the dark blue walls are

getting brighter when you’re going higher for example, just like the water in the ocean. The second

one is called “HafenCity/Universität”, and has some special lighting effects. ´

Now the rail has 23000 users daily, but in the future there will be approximately 35000 users, and on

the weekends they even expect 100000 residents and tourists to use this line. Until now 323.6 million

euros were spent on the new rail. Because of demographic reasons and the growth of the population

in the HafenCity there is the need of a new rail there. And the new district is supposed to be a place

where people and bikes are prioritized, so it will be an environmental friendly part of the city.

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Überseequartier station

2.4 Report from Bergen: Bybanen(10.09.2013)

REPORT: TRANSPORT

In our group «transport» we got to know Bergen`s public transport today: Bybanen. We got off at the

most important stations on our way to Lagunen and learned a lot on this trip. Access to Public

transport often encourages people to use this instead of their own car. This is “Green Living” in daily

transport.

Bystasjonen

Bystasjonen is the central meeting point for all public transports in Bergen.

From here most of the busses leave, as well as a train to Oslo and Bybanen.

A parking lot on top offers space for 2265 cars.

Florida

In Florida there is a university of technology and a metrological institute, so it is

really handy for a lot of people to have a Bybanen station nearby

Sletten

Slettensenter was the first shopping center in Norway. Today there are only 28

shops here. In Sletten there are three different schools: international school of

Bergen, Langhaugen videregående skole and slettebakken skole, as well as an

icescating-centre and a gym.

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Fantoft

Fantoft is a place made for students. There are a lot of student dormitories,

and the city is building more of them. SIB is a company located in Fantoft,

offering students information about home, training, kindergarten, cafes,

bookstores an catering so they take care of students lifestyle.

Nesttun

Nesttun is where they build the first final station of Bybanen. Nesttun is also a

central meeting point for transport south in Bergen. Here there is also many

parking lots for the people who take Bybanen to the city center. This is a green

developing city part.

Lagunen

Lagunen is an example of bad city planning or developing, until the Bybanen

came there. So far it`s the final destination of Bybanen but until 2016 the

Bybanen is extending to the airport, and that makes it easier for people to

travel from the city center to the airport.

BYBANEN/BUS (Skyss)

Prices

The transport system in Bergen is controlled by the company “Skyss”. This is a quite new company.

And they offer many different types of tickets and prices:

- Periode-Skyss: This is a ticket that goes over a period. 7 days cost kr220 to kr300 which

equals €27 to €37. 30 days cost kr690 – 960 which equals €85 to €118. A ticket for up to 180

days costs kr3450 to kr4800 which equals €425 to €590.

- Enkelt-Skyss: Just one ticket. It costs kr29 (€3.5) for grown-ups and kr15 (€1.8) for kids.

- Fleksi-Skyss: A ticket for 10 or 12 travels. It costs kr270 to kr 520kr (€33 to €64).

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About the Accessibility of tickets: You can buy the tickets on machines, in some supermarkets, on

your mobile phone with an App or from the bus driver (than you have to pay extra: kr5 for children

and kr10 for grown-ups).

Accessibility

The different types of public transportation are available in whole Bergen. There are buses to every

district in Bergen for example: Sotra, Askøy, Åsane, Fana, Nesttun. Bybanen has 20 stations in

between the city center and Lagunen. The ferries manly go to the island Askøy, but also to other

cities in Norway. The train goes to Arna and further inland.

Capacity

The buses come every 10 to 30 minutes, depending on where you are travelling. Bybanen usually

runs every 10 minutes, and in the rush hours between 7 and 9 am and 4 and 6 pm it runs every 5

minutes. One bus can carry about 60 people. Bybanen can carry approximately 120 people.

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2.5 Bildeleringen (Car sharing)Prices

This is Bergen´s option for car-sharing. It is not quite as popular as car2go in Hamburg. You have to

pay kr6400 when you register, plus kr125 (€15) each month. Each time you use the car you must pay

kr30 (€3.7) plus kr2.5 (€0.3) per kilometre driven plus kr20 (€2.5) every hour. You are charged for up

to twelve hours out of 24(a day). If you deal any damage to the car, the maximum deductible is up to

kr10000 (€1200), depending on the damage.

Accessibility

There are many cars available throughout the Bergen area. You can book a car online, and there is

always a car available.

Capacity

Until today there are 670 families and companies that make use of Bildeleringen.

Economic aspects

Compared to owning your own car it gives you quite a lot of savings.

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3. ComparisonPrices Accessibility Capacity Economic Aspects

HVV:U-BahnS-Bahnbussesferries

(Hamburg)

Single ticket:€1.40 - €2.95

day ticket:€5.80 - €7.10

abo (per month):€79.70 (adult)€37.20 (student)

10,575 bus- /train- /ferries-stationson 8616km²

10 train lines649 bus lines6 ferrielines

→ System reaches every of Hamburgs suburbs ;The city center is especially enlarged

3,763 vehicles

U-Bahn train (long):9,600 passengers

1.03billion passengers per year

U- and S-Bahn runs every 5-10min (daytime)every 20min (weekend nights)

The HVV steadily designs new vehicles, to make them more environmentally friendly.

Public transport in general is more environmentally friendly compared with the use of private cars.

Skyss:Bybanenbusesferries

(Bergen)

Periode-Skyss :7 days: kr220 - kr300 (€27 - €37)30 days: kr690 - kr960 (€85 - €118)180 days: kr3450 -kr4800 (€425€ - €590)

Enkelt-Skyss:kr29 (€3.5) adultskr15 (€1.8) kids

Bybanen: 20 stations

Many buslines

Ferries: to the island Askøy and other cities

system reaches every district in Bergen

Busses: every 10-30min60 people

Bybanen: every 5-10min120 people

Public transport in general is more environmentally friendly compared with the use of private cars.

Car2Go(Hamburg)

Sign in: €19 (50 km for free)29ct/min19ct/min (parking)€14.90/hour€59/day

Everywhere in the city area, to be found with an App

+Car2Go in 25 Cities in Europe + USA

2-Seaters (Smart)

700 cars in HH

30,000 users

Car2Go can replace a private car for urban people therefor pollution is reduced (as well as parking space)

Bildeleringen(Bergen)

kr6400 register kr125(€15) per month.

30kr(€3.7) per use + kr2.5/km (€0.3)+ kr20/h(€2.5/h)max. 12h/day

There are many cars available throughout the Bergen area. You can book a car on the internet, and there is always a car available.

Until today there are 670 families and companies make use of Bildeleringen.

Bildeleringen can replace a private car for urban people therefor pollution is reduced

Price Accessibility Capacity Economic aspects

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StadtRAD(Hamburg)

First 30min for free!Price per minute:6ct (HVV-user)8ct (normal user)max. per day: €12

128 stations in HH

26 of them at train stations

1,650 Bikes

(130,000 users)

100% Environmentally friendly

Electric cars(Bergen)

Purchase: no VAT, no special taxes

No leasing taxes

No toll

Free Charging at many places

Free parking

-not applicable-

Other specials:e-cars are allowed to use bus lanes

1% of Norway’s cars are electric cars;number is increasing continuously

(Germany: 0.02%)

100% Environmentally friendly, because Norway (almost) only uses renewable energies

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4. Conclusion:

4.1 Discussion of the measuresHow is the transport organized in Bergen and Hamburg, looking at economic aspects, prices,

accessibility and capacity? Which are the cities’ best measures for “Green Living”?

After we have seen all the different types of transport in Bergen and in Hamburg, we now come to

the comparison of those two cities’ transportation systems and our conclusion. The comparison is

orientated at the four known aspects: accessibility, capacity, prices and economic aspects.

We decided to compare: HVV and Skyss; Car2Go and Bildeleringen.

StadtRAD in Hamburg and electric cars in Bergen are probably the cities’ best measures for

environmentally friendly transport, but they are not really comparable to each other.

HVV vs Skyss

HVV and Skyss are the companies which run the public transport in Hamburg and Bergen. The two

systems both cover the whole urban region of their town.

They both run ferries and busses, furthermore the HVV runs the cities’ subway system and sub urban

train system, whereas Skyss runs the Bybanen, the tram in Bergen. The systems are adjusted on the

cities’ size and population and are extended if necessary, like the Bybanen in Bergen in 2010 or the

U4 in Hamburg in 2012.

Comparing the prices, Skyss is more expensive than the HVV, but we have to consider, that Norway

in general is more expensive than Germany. In both cities the companies offer special prices for

students and children.

Eventually, looking at economic aspects, we can say, that public transport systems like HVV and Skyss

are in general quite environmentally friendly, since they offer a great alternative to the use of private

cars for urban people.

Car2Go vs Bildeleringen16

Car2Go and Bildeleringen are the carsharing-companies of Hamburg and Bergen. In both cases the

cars are placed all over the city and can be found on the internet. Usually there is a Car in close

distance. Anyway, Car2Go is more popular in Hamburg, than Bildeleringen in Bergen. A reason for

that might be that Car2Go operates in 24 other cities in the USA and Europe and therefor is more

famous and available for members of Car2Go even on Journeys. Another reason might be the price.

Car2Go is charged by minute and there are no other charges besides the sign-up-fee. Bildeleringen

charges a membership fee per month. Furthermore there are charges for every use, for every hour

and for every kilometer driven. So the final price for a drive really depends on the driven route.

Car2Go prices are quite transparent compared with that and the missing membership fee makes the

system attractive also to occasional users.

In general, Carsharing is a great option for environmentally friendly transport, since it offers the

whole range mobility around town and therefor it is an attractive alternative to private cars for urban

people. Another side aspect is the reduced need of parking space in town.

StadtRAD

StadtRAD is a very successful bike-sharing system, which shows great response from Hamburg’s

inhabitants. The use of the bikes is very cheap: usually, short distances don’t cost anything at all,

since the first 30 minutes are for free. Therefore the system is affordable for everybody.

Furthermore, the terminals of StadtRAD are placed at popular destinations all over town and with

the StadtRAD app it’s as easy as pie to find a station close by.

Over all, StadtRAD offers a lot of mobility and it is 100% environmentally friendly, since it operates

with bikes. So for me, personally, StadtRAD is the best measure for environmentally friendly

transport in Hamburg.

Electric Cars

In Norway, the government made a great effort to advertise electric cars. This starts at the purchase

of the car: The buyer has to pay neither value added taxes nor special taxes like admission fee or

import fee. Furthermore electric cars don’t have to pay toll and they are allowed to drive on bus

lanes, which is extremely beneficial during rush hours.

Electric cars can park everywhere for free and at a lot of charging stations, the charging is free as well

because power is very cheap in Norway.

These measures, undertaken by Norwegian government, show success: About 1% of the cars used in

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Norway at the moment are electric cars, and the number is increasing continuously.

Electric cars in Norway are (almost) 100% environmentally friendly, since the power they use is

renewable energy and therefore I vote electric cars as the best measure for environmentally friendly

transport in Bergen.

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4.2 About the projectThis project showed us how public transportation is organized differently in other cities. We learned,

that transportation must be adjusted to a city’s conditions and inhabitants and that there are a lot of

factors that impact on the success of a transport type, like the price or the offered mobility. In the

cases of StadtRAD and electric cars this became quite clear: In Hamburg, bikes are a popular means

of transportation, therefore the city has a lot of bike paths, etc. Under these conditions, StadtRAD is

a great option for transport in Hamburg. In Bergen, biking is not as popular, and there for a system

like StadtRAD just wouldn’t be as successful as it is in Hamburg, even though it’s 100%

environmentally friendly.

We have a similar case with electric cars. We found out, that electric cars itself must not be

environmentally friendly, since they need a lot of electricity, which has to be produced somehow.

Because Norway is using renewable energies, the use of an electric car does not cause any pollution.

In Germany this would be different because more than half of our energy is produced by burning

fossil fuels, which causes pollution; therefore, electric cars in Germany do cause pollution.

All in all I liked the project very much. We visited another city with the focus on our topic, transport,

which I would have never done on normal holidays. Especially I liked the work with the Norwegian

students - and they liked the work with us - because a partnership like this shows a new perspective

on the own town. The project opened my field of vision of what a city can do for environmentally

friendly transport and Green Living in general.

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Norwegian and German students in front of Heinrich-Hertz-Schule; sep’13

5. References Hamburg

Hamburger Verkehrsverbund, Germany (25.05.13) http://www.hvv.de/

Hamburger Verkehrsverbund, Wikipedia – Germany (25.04.13)http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburger_Verkehrsverbund

StadtRAD, Deutschland (25.04.13) http://StadtRAD.hamburg.de/

StadtRAD Hamburg, Wikipedia – Germany (25.04.13) http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/StadtRAD_Hamburg

Car2go (car sharing firm), Germany (25.04.13) https://www.car2go.com/de/hamburg/

Car2go (car sharing firm), Wikipedia – Germany (25.04.13) http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car2go

Bergen

Bildeleringen (car sharing firm), Norway (29.10.13) http://bildeleringen.no

Skyss (Firm for Public transport in Bergen), Norway (29.10.13) http://www.skyss.no

Baltzer, Sebastian – „In Norwegen ist für Elektroautos sogar der Strom gratis“ (30.01.13)

http://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/wirtschaftspolitik/foerderung-von-elektromobilitaet-in-norwegen-ist-fuer-elektroautos-sogar-der-strom-gratis-12679293.html?printPagedArticle=true

Pander, Jürgen – “E-Mobilität in Norwegen: Das verstromte Land“ (30.01.2014)

http://www.spiegel.de/auto/aktuell/elektromobilitaet-in-norwegen-hauptsache-strom-a-913867.html

Pictures (flags)

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Norway.svg (20.01.14)

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Germany.svg (20.01.14)

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6. Further material

Feedback from Norway

Anmerkungen zum Bericht

(Erklärungen zu Abweichungen von den inhaltlichen und formalen Vorgaben)

1. Der SeitenrandUnter Anleitung meines, in Word geschulten, Vaters habe ich die rechts zu sehende Einstellung gewählt, die besagt: Rand links und rechts: 2.5cm, also den vorgaben entsprechend.Im gedruckten Dokument betrug der Seitenrand jedoch nur 2cm. Ich bitte zu entschuldigen, dass ich hieran keine weiteren Veränderungen vornehmen mochte, um mir die Neuausrichtung von Überschriften, Seitenumbrüchen, etc. zu ersparen.

2. Die GliederungIch habe mich bei meiner Gliederung dazu entschieden, die Reports als einen eigenen Unterpunkt (2.) zu erstellen und „3.comparison“ als einen neuen Unterpunkt einzufügen, da ich es als harmonischer empfinde, die (5) Reports in einem abgesonderten Unterpunkt zu haben. Außerdem unterscheidet sich die Tabelle in 3. äußerlich sehr stark von den Texten in 2. .Dementsprechend sind auch die nachfolgenden Gliederunspunkte um eine Stelle verrückt.

3. ConclusionIch habe in der Konklusion einerseits die „Diskussion der Maßnahmen“ (die in den Vorgaben bei ja eigentlich bei 2.3 auftauchten) als inhaltliches Fazit, andererseits „About the project“ als projektübergreifendes Fazit eingebaut, da diese mit dem Blick auf den restlichen Report am besten an diese Stelle passten, eben als schlussendliche Fazits

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