DETROIT - The Stuttgart Regional Economic Development Corporation (Stuttgart Region EDC) has been awarded 115-million euros by Germany’s Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs in a competition to help jumpstart the development of sustainable transportation systems in urban areas.

Supported by the Baden-Wuerttemberg Ministry for Environment, the Stuttgart Region’s entry was selected over 129 competing proposals for the region’s innovative plan to connect private and commercial users of electric-based transportation systems, including trains, buses, electric and hybrid-electric cars, bicycles and even scooters.

“As the birthplace of the automobile we want to continue to lead in writing the history of the automobile,” says Dr. Walter Rogg, managing director of the Stuttgart Region EDC. “Through a consortium of companies, public transportation entities, academic institutions and local communities, we are demonstrating our ability to design and implement projects that will shape the future of mobility.”

Several pilot and demonstration projects proposed for the Stuttgart Region provide communities and counties with a roadmap for electric mobility, including long-term tests of hybrid buses on regular public-bus routes; bus stops equipped with electric bikes; extension of bus routes powered by overhead electricity lines; new business models to enhance market acceptance of electric vehicles, and many more.

A unique mixture of major companies such as Daimler, Bosch and EnBW, as well as a broad range of innovative, mid-sized businesses, make the Stuttgart Region (population 2.7 million) an important and successful economic centers.

The region’s primary export-oriented companies produce a gross domestic product of 93-billion euros. The Stuttgart Region’s traditional culture of invention along with a broad range of institutions in the field of science, research and higher education have led the nation in patent applications, fostering the successful development of emerging industries. For further information, visithttp://wrs.region-stuttgart.de/sixcms/wrs_en_home/.