Study on new mobility patterns in European cities : executive summary; Task A: EU wide passenger mobility survey

Mobility is essential to the productive functioning of the economy and individuals' ability to access the opportunities needed to succeed. Transport and mobility services are an important part of the economy, accounting for at least 5% of EU total value added and employing approximately 10.5 million people. Moreover, transportation is an important factor in living a good quality life and improving accessibility and connectivity between places and people. Increased urbanisation, albeit at a slower pace than previous decades, can be seen around the world, including Europe. In 2020, about 72.4% of the EU's total population lives in cities, towns and suburbs and the proportion of urban population continues to grow. As a result, passenger mobility is undergoing major changes and shifts to new paradigms and there is growing concern about the long-term sustainability of major transportation systems, particularly those in cities. With the European Green Deal (EGD) and the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy (SSMS), the EU is striving to reduce transport-related greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2050 compared to 1990 level, delivered by a smart, competitive, safe, accessible and affordable transport system, as required by the Climate Law. There have been significant policy developments and changes in mobility patterns enabled by digital technologies and innovations in recent years. Mobility surveys and data collected on travel behaviour provide essential information about these new trends. This information is instrumental in developing transportation policies and measures to achieve the objectives of sustainable and green mobility. As a result, various data collection methodologies have been proposed in recent decades in different national or regional contexts. However, without harmonised surveys across the Member States, it is difficult to compare statistics. The need for a wider range of harmonised indicators on more detailed sub-populations and regional contexts is rising.