Why cities and why Hamburg?

Cities are laboratories for democratic and sustainable innovation

They enable experimenting at scale for new collaborative practices and democratic standards for data sharing and furthermore provide normative and regulatory power coupled with infrastructural capacity and proximity to citizens.

This is especially true for the City of Hamburg, with its very ambitious digital policy goals, its net zero agenda and unique transparency laws that gives the citizens comprehensive rights to information as well as its advanced technical infrastructure and capabilities with the Urban Data Platform.

The City of Hamburg’s goal is to increase the share of all journeys made by public transport (including car sharing), cycling trips and foot traffic to 80% of the modal split by the end of the decade. The share of bicycle traffic shall be increased to 25 to 30%. For a more holistic and future-oriented view, the term micromobility includes all vehicle types next to bicycles, such as (electric) cargo bikes and electric scooters), which are allowed to go on bike lanes.

To achieve this goal, it is required to gain deeper insights into the new flows of micromobility on Hamburg’s streets. With optimal use of resources, this helps to improve infrastructure and have a user-focused way of mobility planning, which should prioritise vulnerable road users like users of micromobility and of course pedestrians. At the same time, users of such means of transport should respect the physical space where they are allowed to circulate and park, ensuring safety and convenience for other users.

What & How

Content and objectives of the Urban Data Challenge Hamburg

As part of the Urban Data Challenge, in addition to public data, a comprehensive set of exclusive private micromobility data will be made available, which will include various movement and vehicle data for a given time period. As part of this competition of ideas, these are to be analysed, combined and put into relation (optionally with other data sets proposed by the participants).

The goal is to use this to develop a holistic view of micromobility behaviour and, if possible, to enable a variety of the following analyses:

1. The most important use case to be considered is the change in mobility behaviour on the Reeperbahn due to the new eastbound pop-up bikelane from November 2022. By means of a before-and-after analysis, the city will investigate the resulting effects in the neighbouring districts of St. Pauli, Altona-Nord, Altona-Altstadt, Neustadt and Sternschanze and thereby derive results for further projects.

Beyond the "Reeperbahn" use case, the expected analysis results are to be used to implement infrastructural and traffic improvements. These findings can contribute to the following focal points and measures:

2. Analysis of the modal shift effects of the introduction of the pop-up bikelane and analysis of effects on transport mode choice

3. Identify areas and specific roads for further pop-up routes

4. Adjustment of the light signal programs on the basis of the measured average speeds and minimization of the average waiting times

5. Identify areas where maintenance and/or design improvements are required to increase the safety of users e.g., uneven roads and abruptly ending lanes 

6. Assessment of areas and specifications for parking facilities for micromobility vehicles

7. Support the development and expansion of the various cycling networks in the city

8. Alternate routes (where micromobility users and cyclists deliberately accept detours instead of direct connections as foreseen by e.g. cycling networks)

Process & Timeline

This challenge is carried out within the framework of a tendering procedure, the formal framework which is being organized by Dataport as the IT service provider of the City of Hamburg.

The first phase is an application process in which any interested company, organisation and academic teams can participate by submitting a request to participate. At this stage, the eligibility of the applicants will be assessed in accordance with the required criteria (see Part B - Description of Services as part of the official application documents).

All applicants who meet the eligibility criteria will then be invited to submit their basic concept which will be evaluated by the project team of THE NEW INSTITUTE and the City of Hamburg. We encourage every applicant, who is confident to meet the eligibility criteria to start working on the basic concept before this invitation. The best five proposals will be shortlisted and invited to a Pitch Day and will also receive an expense reimbursement of each €2,000. 

The selected teams will present their basic concept at the Pitch Day, which will take place on site in Hamburg in May. The pitch will be evaluated by a high-level jury consisting of members of THE NEW INSTITUTE, the City of Hamburg and partner companies. The two finalists will then be invited to submit a revised follow-up proposal with a detailed concept to continue with the next round of negotiations with the City of Hamburg.

After completion of all negotiation rounds, the City of Hamburg will invite the two finalists to submit their final proposals of which the winner of the challenge will be selected.

The winning team will then be granted financing of €40,000 for the following implementation and to further develop their technology to meet the challenge's objectives. 

The most relevant dates for the challenge are listed in the table below. A complete overview of the process can be found in the official application documents.

What do we offer?

Financing  - €40,000 to develop and prototype your solution during the implementation phase

Exciting data - Our partner companies are providing exclusive private micromobility data, enriched by large public urban data

Real challenge - Available public data is not sufficient in all cases - increased sharing of previously non-public data and collaboration with the private sector can create value for all sides and, with the help of innovative companies and startups, enable cities to develop new solutions to address the biggest environmental and urban challenges

Networking - The top five teams will have valuable networking opportunities with project stakeholders during the Pitch Day in May '23 and through the participation of the Senate Chancellery, the Hamburg Authority for Transport and Mobility Transition, as well as recognized international experts

Be a pioneer - Participation in an innovation project unique in Germany, testing B2G2S (Business-to-Government-to-Society) data exchange in a controlled environment and advancing the regulation of data exchange for the public interest

Who is eligible to apply?

Companies, research institutions and teams that meet the following criteria (more details are provided in the official challenge documents)

1. You have the necessary human and technical resources as well as sufficient experience to carry out the contract to an appropriate quality.
2. You have the necessary economic and financial capacities to execute the contract.
3. Neither your company nor any freelance team members are business competitors of a partner company of the Urban Data Challenge.
4. You are able to manage and implement the proposed solution either in German or English.