Europe's urban areas are struggling to develop themselves into well-connected multimodal and multi-usage nodes for smart and clean mobility. Multiple trends affect urban and inter-urban areas: urban growth, densification, digitalisation, increasing pressure from freight movements and a shift to a service-oriented economy. Moreover, many European cities and regions areas are committed to develop into zero-emission areas that are well connected with the TEN-T network.
New technologies and innovative measures are emerging, but they are not taken up at a scale that is necessary to meet our climate targets and European transport policy objectives. In many instances, the responsible authorities (often operating at different governance levels) cooperate with public and private stakeholders. But the full integration and implementation of new solutions lags behind because little information, data and tested, innovative solutions are available on their effectiveness and on how to overcome the barriers to successful implementation into older legacy systems and ageing infrastructures.