Tag Archive: Urban Mobility

  1. EIT Urban Mobility launches a Strategic Innovation Open Call

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    Source: EIT Urban Mobility

    EIT Urban Mobility is inviting Europe’s innovators to submit proposals to its Strategic Innovation Open Call, with the aim of accelerating the implementation of impactful solutions which address urban mobility’s most pressing challenges.

    Through this call, EIT Urban Mobility seeks to support innovative, ambitious and market-critical projects which address key problems faced by cities, public authorities and mobility providers, stating “We aim to de-risk development and enable large-scale deployment by backing solutions with a clear path to market and the potential to scale across Europe.”

    Scope of the call

    The call will focus on five sectors in which EIT Urban Mobility believes Europe has the potential to innovate and create impact: 

    • Urban logistics
    • Public transport
    • Mobility data management
    • Electrification of transport and alternative fuels
    • Health and mobility

    The call may, in the future, include specific topic scopes to address key opportunities or failures in the market, which could benefit from funding support.

    EIT funding allocation

    The total estimated funding allocated to this call is €60 million for the period 2026-2028, and has multiple cut-off dates The indicative funding for the first submission cut-off is €9 million.

    Each project may receive up to €2 million of EIT funding. EIT Urban Mobility will reimburse up to 65% of the eligible project costs, while the minimum co-funding rate for all proposals is 35%.

    Who can apply?

    This is a multi-beneficiary call for proposals; there must be a minimum of two independent legal entities, working together. These entities must be established in two different European Member States, and/or Third countries associated with Horizon Europe.

    For information on special cases, including Switzerland and Hungarian universities please refer to the Call Manual.

    Application process

    The Strategic Innovation Open Call is open from 2026-2028 with several cut-off dates, outlined below.

    The assessment of the proposals involves two stages: 

    • Stage 1 is the expert evaluation of proposals submitted via the EIT Urban Mobility NetSuite platform
    • Stage 2 includes a panel hearing and selection by the Selection Committee.  

    Key dates are:

    • Call opens: 19 June 2025
    • Info webinar sessions: 1-3 July 2025
    • Deadlines to apply: All submission windows close at 17.00 CET on the published cut-off date.
      • 1st cut-off date: 23 September 2025
      • 2nd cut-off date: February 2026
      • 3rd cut-off date: June 2026
      • 4th cut-off date: February 2027
    • Eligibility and admissibility check: Up to 1 week post-submission cut-off
    • Evaluation and invitation to panel hearings: Up to 6 weeks post-submission cut-off
    • Panel hearings and portfolio selection: Approximately 2 weeks post invitation to Panel Hearings
    • Communication of results: Approximately 2 weeks post-Panel Hearings
    • Start of the projects: Approximately 4 weeks post-communication of results

    Find out more about the Strategic Innovation Open Call here.

  2. Positive signs for e-biking: Key findings from German urban mobility study

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    Source: Velobiz

    Recently, the Technical University of Dresden published findings from the 2023 “Mobility in Cities” study (SrV), offering in-depth insights into the everyday mobility patterns of urban residents across Germany.

    In the research, nearly 900,000 daily travel routes were analyzed across 134 study areas, including around 500 cities and towns, plus 12 broader regions.

    Overview of mobility trends

    • Compared to 2013 and 2018, mobility among older age groups has increased, while it has decreased among younger and middle-aged individuals.
    • Cycling is making gains, increasing its share in the modal split.
    • The more frequently people work from home, the less they rely on their cars.

    E-bikes: A game changer in rural areas

    A standout insight from the study is the growing impact of electric bicycles (e-bikes), especially in rural areas:

    • E-bike availability is higher in rural regions: up to 24% in flat areas and 28% in hilly areas of respondents always have access to an e-bike.
    • E-bike users travel significantly longer distances than conventional cyclists:
      • Urban areas (metropolitan, regional centers): 5.5 km (vs. 3.4 km for regular bikes)
      • Medium-sized cities: 7.4 km (vs. 2.8 km)
      • Rural/small-town areas: 11.5 km (vs. 3.1 km)
    • Older adults are especially likely to use e-bikes.

    These findings confirm that e-bikes are expanding the practical reach of cycling, particularly where distances are greater and traditional cycling is less convenient.

    Conclusion

    The study reaffirms the importance of cycling in Germany’s transport landscape. Many of the elevated usage levels observed during the unusually favorable weather of 2018 were matched or even exceeded in 2023, indicating sustained interest and growth in bike use, including e-bikes.

  3. Stockholm outlines climate action plan to transition to fossil-free urban transport

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    Source: European Commission

    The City of Stockholm has released its Climate Action Plan 2030, detailing measures to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, lower carbon emissions, and support climate equity. One of the central components of the plan is the transition toward sustainable, fossil-free urban transportation.

    The plan envisions a transport system in which public transit, walking, and cycling are the primary modes of travel. It sets a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport by 80% by 2030 compared to 2010 levels, with the additional aim of making the inner city entirely emission-free.

    Achieving these goals involves both infrastructure development and changes in travel behavior. The city aims to reduce car traffic by 30% compared to 2017 levels through more efficient land use that prioritises pedestrians and public spaces. To facilitate this shift, Stockholm is investing in improvements to public transportation, pedestrian networks, and cycling infrastructure.

    Electrification plays a key role in the city’s strategy. By 2030, up to 80% of passenger vehicles are expected to be electric, with similar progress anticipated for freight transport. To support this, the city is introducing measures such as the Class 3 Clean Air Zone and expanding the electric vehicle charging network. Additionally, the plan includes transitioning freight movement from road to waterways, electrifying local maritime transport, and providing shore power for docked vessels, along with encouraging the use of renewable fuels in commuter and leisure boats.

    The municipality is also updating procurement practices to support the use of fossil-free vehicles and equipment in its own operations. It is testing new technologies for traffic management and data-driven mobility solutions as part of its efforts to modernize the transport system.

    Through these initiatives, Stockholm aims to demonstrate how urban areas can implement cleaner, more sustainable, and accessible transportation systems.

  4. Antwerp keeps parks clean with EVPro

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    Source: Press Antwerp

    The City of Antwerp keeps parks and squares clean with LEVA-EU member EVPro’s Stuyf pickups.

    After a successful test phase, the electric Stuyf pickup has become a permanent solution for the Antwerp City Cleaning Service to help keep public spaces clean. These silent, environmentally friendly vehicles that are driven while standing are 100% electric and offer an efficient and ergonomic solution for city employees. The EVPro Stuyf pickups are used to remove litter and empty waste bins in parks, shopping, and walking areas, and busy places.

    These innovative vehicles offer numerous advantages. They improve the park experience for visitors because they are silent and thus maintain the peace and atmosphere in public areas. They are also efficient, as these electric handcarts can reach places that are more difficult to reach for larger vehicles. The use of these handcarts also avoids possible conflicts between vulnerable road users and larger collection vehicles in busy places.

    Alderman for urban cleaning and waste, Ken Casier, stated: “As a city, we are committed to a smart greening of our urban cleaning vehicles. For example, we now have electric handcarts to keep our parks clean. Nice and quiet so that they do not disturb anyone and ergonomic for our highly valued employees. With the help of all residents and visitors who deposit waste correctly and with the extra manpower that we deploy during the ‘park season’, we can rightly say of every park: clean, huh!”

    This success is part of a wider rollout of Stuyf pickups across Belgium. In addition to the fleet of 21 handcarts now in use in Antwerp, EVPro has vehicles in use in Bruges, Brussels, Schaerbeek, Ghent, and growing.

    In addition to the rollout of electric trolleys, the city of Antwerp continues to focus on greening vehicles at the City Cleaning Department. Since the start of the park season, from April 1 to October 1, 45 additional staff members have been deployed to keep parks as clean as possible. The City of Antwerp continues to work towards a clean city, and calls on its residents and all visitors to dispose of waste correctly.

  5. Oslo achieves Maas integration with MOVE21

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    Source: Zag Daily

    Oslo achieves an EU first in the Mobility as a Service (Maas) sector, integrating bike sharing into its official public transport app as part of the MOVE21 project.

    The Norwegian capital’s achievement comes thanks to a unique collaboration between Oslo’s public transport authority Ruter and global micromobility software platform Urban Sharing. With the Ruter app you are now able to locate your nearest bike share station in real time, check bike availability, hire with in-app payment, and unlock and start riding immediately.

    How was integration achieved?

    Urban Sharing onboarded the Oslo City Bike scheme onto its platform back in 2018. During a three-year development period, Ruter managed the front-end design of the app whilst Urban Sharing developed the unique Application Programming Interface (API) with all the necessary endpoints to make the app run smoothly. In 2023, the first of three roll-out phases began, with Ruter first testing the app to see if the integrated bike share offering worked for 500 users, eventually rolling out to 10,000 users, before updating the public transport app for its entire customer base.

    What is MOVE21?

    MOVE21 is an EU-funded innovation project that aims for participating cities to achieve a 30% reduction in transport-related emissions by 2030. The project supports cities to become zero-emission nodes for mobility and logistics through 15 unique initiatives. These initiatives are tried and tested on the ground in three Living Labs that are central to the project: Oslo, Gothenburg, and Hamburg. Three replicator cities – Munich, Rome, and Bologna – then copy the concepts before further ‘cascading cities’ review the findings in the context of their own streets. The initiatives span a huge range of innovations that look beyond transport as an individual sector.

    The results?

    Since the first pilot phase began in 2023, more than 11,000 people have hired out an Oslo City Bike through the Ruter app, tapping into a unique demographic of riders separate to those that hire through the long established Oslo City Bike app. Urban Sharing CEO Kristian Brink cites the potential of the service to grow in Oslo, with these recorded trips making up less than 1% of the 1.1 million journeys that Oslo City Bike recorded in 2024.  

    “It’s no easy feat integrating a brand new mode of transportation into a public transport app,” Brink told Zag Daily. “They can book the train. They can book the bike. They can pay, receive their ticket, unlock the bike all on one app. This is pure, seamless, European integration.”

    MOVE21 hope to use the success of Maas intergration in Oslo as a case study and blueprint for the rest of Europe. Brink concludes: “Slowly but steadily, we are rewriting the travel experience for commuters. And this is something that Europe has achieved on its own.”

  6. How COVID-19 changed urban mobility for the better

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    Source: Tomorrow.City

    As we mark five years since the COVID-19 outbreak, it’s important to reflect on how the pandemic significantly reshaped urban mobility. Beyond the immediate devastation – millions of lives lost, economies disrupted, and healthcare systems overwhelmed – the pandemic also sparked a wave of transformation and reassessment.

    Human behavior adapted as people navigated new ways of living, working, and interacting. Cities were reimagined with a greater focus on public health and liveability. The pandemic’s challenges led to innovation, and a “new normal” emerged. Many initiatives and projects that began during the pandemic continue to influence urban environments today.

    Urban mobility startup investment surge

    A major shift that occurred after the pandemic’s onset was the acceleration of investment in urban mobility startups. Recognising the need for innovative transportation solutions, organizations like EIT Urban Mobility introduced specialised Accelerator Programmes to support startups focused on sustainable and impactful solutions. One such initiative, the EIT Urban Mobility Accelerator Programme: Special COVID-19 Edition, launched in July 2020, supported 23 European startups, four of which remain part of the EIT Urban Mobility portfolio:

    • Elonroad: Focused on developing smart charging highway systems for electric vehicles, Elonroad received funding from the French government as part of the France 2030 initiative to electrify a highway near Paris.
    • Meep: A mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) platform that integrates various transport options, Meep has partnered with multiple transport operators and public authorities to centralize services and promote sustainability.
    • Nemi Mobility Solutions: This startup enhances public transport efficiency and accessibility in peri-urban and rural areas with AI-driven demand-responsive transport. It celebrated its fifth anniversary in early 2025, signing its 11th transport-on-demand service.
    • Urban Radar: Specialising in data-driven insights for optimizing urban logistics and transportation planning, Urban Radar piloted its solution in Barcelona less than a year after receiving investment.

    Investment trends in urban mobility

    The success of these startups represents only a small portion of the financial influx into the urban mobility sector. According to Via ID’s State of Urban Mobility Startups report, investment in the sector more than doubled from 2020 to 2021 in Europe, surpassing $14B. While investments have declined in recent years as the immediate effects of the pandemic faded, funding levels remain higher than pre-pandemic levels. Startups founded during the pandemic’s investment boom continue to innovate and tackle urban challenges today.

    FURNISH: A temporary project with lasting impact

    During the pandemic, cities had to rethink public spaces to accommodate social distancing and new mobility patterns. One such initiative was FURNISH, an EIT Urban Mobility-funded project aimed at temporarily redesigning urban spaces for safer and more functional public use. Over three editions, the project developed 12 different prototypes of modular urban furniture, which were deployable at low cost and flexible enough for adaptation. These prototypes were open-source, allowing cities globally to reuse and redevelop them. The insights gained from FURNISH continue to influence urban design worldwide.

    Bridging the knowledge gap between urban mobility and public health

    The pandemic also highlighted a knowledge gap in the intersection of urban mobility and public health. In response, EIT Urban Mobility and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) launched an educational initiative to equip professionals with the skills necessary to integrate public health perspectives into urban design. The Introduction to Urban Health course, offered to PhD candidates in the EIT Urban Mobility Doctoral Training Network, explores how urban environments influence health and well-being. The course includes lectures, case studies, and hands-on projects to help participants apply their knowledge to real-world challenges.

    In addition to this, EIT Urban Mobility is launching the Urban Mobility and Healthy Ageing: Innovations for a Sustainable Future (UMAIS) Summer School in 2025. Co-led by the University of Lisbon and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, this program will address the intersection of ageing, mobility, and innovation.

    These educational programs reflect the growing recognition of health’s role in urban mobility planning, and aim to bridge the knowledge gap identified during the early days of COVID-19. By fostering interdisciplinary solutions, these initiatives contribute to the development of healthier cities that integrate wellness into their designs and strategies.

  7. Intermobility Future Ways recap: exploring the future of shared and sustainable mobility

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    Source: EU Urban Mobility Observatory

    The Intermobility Future Ways (IFW) forum was hosted in Rimini, Italy from November 19 to 21 2024, bringing together policymakers, industry professionals, and mobility experts to discuss the future of shared and sustainable urban mobility.

    The event featured workshops, conferences, and key reports focusing on green and digital innovations in mobility systems. Organized over three days, IFW provided a platform for highlighting sustainable urban mobility plans (SUMPs) strategies to address transport poverty, and policies promoting urban vehicle access regulations (UVARs).

    Day 1: Launch of Intermobility Future Ways Report

    It opened with a plenary session and the presentation of the Intermobility Future Ways Report, outlining key trends in shared and collective mobility. Attendees participated in workshops exploring future mobility solutions and the role of technology in advancing sustainable transport policies.

    Day 2: Sharing Mobility and Transport Poverty

    The second day focused on shared mobility, with the 8th National Sharing Mobility Conference presenting the latest National Sharing Mobility Report. Discussions centered on Italy’s progress in shared transport services and challenges in expanding these offerings.

    Key sessions were also shared detailing the lack of access to affordable and reliable transportation options, and how UVAR policies could improve urban accessibility while reducing traffic congestion and emissions.

    Day 3: MobyDixit and the SUMP conference

    The final day featured MobyDixit, Euromobility’s annual mobility management event, which included the 24th Conference on Mobility Management and the 8th SUMP Conference.

    There was also a session that discussed how Italy and other European countries are implementing SUMPS to meet EU sustainability goals, and introduced the SUMP and National Support Scheme Programme (NSSP) Training Initative, which aims to prepare local authorities to comply with the TEN-T Regulation, which mandates that urban nodes must adopt SUMPs by 2027.

    Key takeaways on SUMPs in Italy

    A major highlight of IFW was the session “SUMPs 2.0: New Goals for Cities”, reflecting on Italy’s progress in adopting Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans over the past decade. Moderated by Carla Messina from the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT), the session featured experts including Patrizia Malgieri (TRT) and Daniela De Leo (Università Federico II Napoli).

    The discussion highlighted four key areas for improving Italy’s SUMP framework:

    • Setting measurable goals for mobility plans.
    • Implementing evaluation tools to track progress.
    • Engaging stakeholders to raise public awareness.
    • Positioning SUMPs as actionable frameworks with short-term measures to achieve tangible results.

    A collaborative path forward

    IFW underscored the importance of collaboration between local governments, policymakers, and industry stakeholders in achieving sustainable mobility. The event emphasized that shared mobility and SUMPs are vital tools in addressing climate challenges, reducing transport poverty, and ensuring more equitable urban transport systems across Europe.

    More information about the event can be accessed here.

  8. Discover the latest ERTRAC Integrated Urban Mobility Roadmap

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    The updated ERTRAC Integrated Urban Mobility Roadmap is now available! Building on the 2017 version, this new roadmap provides a forward-thinking framework to tackle today’s most pressing urban mobility challenges.

    Source: European Commission

    As urban mobility evolves due to technological advances, economic changes and growing environmental concerns, the ERTRAC, ALICE, and ERRAC Urban Mobility Working Group began updating the roadmap in mid-2023. This update outlines a comprehensive vision for optimising urban transport systems and paving the way towards a more sustainable future.

    The 2024 version serves as a crucial guide for identifying key research and innovation opportunities. Drawing on expertise from industry professionals, stakeholders and previous working group publications, it reflects the latest developments in urban mobility, including research projects funded by Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe.

    The roadmap prioritises making urban transport systems more convenient, accessible, affordable and resource-efficient for both passengers and goods. It covers every aspect of the transport network, from users and infrastructure to governance, while addressing connections between urban, peri-urban and rural areas.

    One key focus is balancing growing mobility demands with limited urban space, promoting stronger integration between transport and city planning. The roadmap advocates sustainable solutions, emphasising active transport, public transit and shared mobility. By assessing current trends and future needs, the 2024 version provides a clear path for innovation and research to build a more efficient and sustainable transport system.

    • Read the full updated roadmap here
    • Read more about STREnGth_M here

  9. EIT UM Call for Projects aimed at promoting a competitive & sustainable European Cycling Industry

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    This call results from the European Declaration on Cycling, signed last April. The Declaration emphasises cycling as a strategic priority and describes it as one of the “most sustainable, accessible and inclusive, low-cost and healthy forms of transport“.

    According to EIT Urban Mobility, the growing share of e-bikes has created a wealth of opportunities for new services and business models in the industry, and a need for more digital and battery innovations. Simultaneously, existing services like bike sharing need to be optimised to allow operators to expand services to new consumers.

    Through this call, EIT Urban Mobility aims to fund innovative solutions that promote a competitive and sustainable European
    cycling industry, focusing on three sub-topics:

    • Light means of transport (LMT) batteries
    • New services and business models, and
    • Sustainable local manufacturing.

    Consortia should consist of 2 to 5 partners from at least 2 EU Member States or/and Horizon Europe associated countries. EIT will fund a maximum of 65% of the total project cost, with budgets expected to range between € 300,000 and € 700,000. The total indicative funding allocated for this call is € 1.5 million, which allows for approving 2 to 5 projects. The project should start from 1 January 2025 and run for one year.

    There are 2 mandatory KPI’s:

    • either an innovation needs to be put on the market or a start-up created
    • second KPI is demonstration

    As a result, there has to be at least one commercial partner and one demonstration host, either a city/municipal government or a company. The solution to be piloted should have successfully reached a minimum Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 6.

    Once the project has started, consortium partners are required to become EIT UM members. The lowest annual membership fee is € 5,000.

    This call will close on 15 October at 17.00 CET. The evaluation results will be communicated end of November.

    All further details are here: https://rb.gy/hxgrxc