The European Commission has launched the next phase in defining Urban Mobility Indicators (UMIs), a new set of data requirements stemming from the revised Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) Regulation, in force since July 2024. Under this framework, EU Member States must collect and submit urban mobility data for each designated urban node in the fields of sustainability, safety, and accessibility. The first submission deadline is 31 December 2027, making UMIs a central element of Europe’s transition toward cleaner and more efficient mobility.
UMIs represent a limited set of indicators covering sustainability, safety, and accessibility, designed to support urban nodes in monitoring the implementation of their Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) and providing feedback to cities and stakeholders.
Governance and data accessibility challenges
One recurrent challenge is the mismatch between who holds the data and who must report it. Although UMIs apply to urban nodes, many relevant datasets are managed by other authorities and even the private sector. This creates gaps in accessibility and availability that risk hindering cities’ ability to comply with reporting obligations.
It is thus essential that all data platforms needed for this process account for this governance complexity. Assigned reporting authorities need reliable access to data generated across different administrative levels if they are to produce meaningful UMI reporting. They also need to operate the relevant processes and applications on the ‘raw data sets' in order to be able to report the right UMI information.
Role of transversal use cases and data platforms
Within the deployEMDS project aiming to support the European Union’s data economy, enhancing secure data availability and sharing for a trusted European data ecosystem by preparing a data infrastructure, governance, and processing under the Digital Europe Programme, the UMI framework appears as one of the transversal use cases, demonstrating how diverse data sources can be integrated into applications to support evidence-based mobility planning.
The project works with sensor data, digital platforms, and multimodal datasets that can contribute directly to applications for the Commission’s reporting. These sources were already reflected in recommendations published last year, and their relevance has only increased as UMIs move towards implementation.
Urban Mobility indicators could also be very valuable for monitoring the readiness of cities and the impact of transformative technologies like Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility (CCAM) in real-world settings. The ERTICO coordinated FAME project has published a policy brief on empowering cities to lead CCAM deployment with recommendations on streamlining data governance.
What the implementing act defines
To ensure consistent reporting across Europe, the Commission is preparing an implementing act that will specify:
- the list of indicators to be collected,
- common methods for data gathering,
- definitions and calculation procedures,
- harmonised reporting formats for all Member States.
Urban nodes, SUMPs, and the broader TEN-T ambition
Europe counts more than 400 urban nodes in the updated TEN-T network. By 2027, European cities designated as urban nodes on the TEN-T network must have a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) in place, mandated by the revised TEN-T Regulation, and will begin reporting Urban Mobility Indicators (UMIs) to monitor progress on safety, accessibility, and sustainability. These plans and indicators form the backbone of a more integrated approach to mobility planning across functional urban areas, linking transport, spatial planning, energy, and logistics.
Urban nodes also play a strategic role in the development of multimodal passenger hubs by 2030 and multimodal freight terminals by 2040. Their connectivity, resilience, and ability to facilitate seamless movement of people and goods will determine the success of the wider TEN-T network.
ERTICO perspective
ERTICO contributions through research and innovation projects
As Europe prepares to operationalise UMIs, there is a clear need for collaboration between cities, national authorities, data providers, and the wider mobility ecosystem. This is an area where ERTICO and its partners are already actively contributing through ongoing European research and innovation projects, technical expertise, and participation in discussions such as the Expert Group on Urban Mobility (EGUM). Through its contribution via projects like NAPCORE and deployEMDS, ERTICO has a vast contribution to the accessibility and availability of data.
Stay informed on the next steps of the UMI implementing act as Europe prepares for the 2027 reporting deadline.
Sources:
European Commission. (n.d.). Collection of urban mobility data per urban node. Retrieved November 24, 2025, from https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/14688-Collection-of-urban-mobility-data-per-urban-node_en
European Commission, Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport. (n.d.). Sustainable urban mobility planning and monitoring. https://transport.ec.europa.eu/transport-themes/urban-transport/sustainable-urban-mobility-planning-and-monitoring_en
European Commission, Urban Mobility Observatory. (2024, July 23). New urban mobility indicator fiches released to support SUMP implementation. https://urban-mobility-observatory.transport.ec.europa.eu/news-events/news/new-urban-mobility-indicator-fiches-released-support-sump-implementation-2024-07-23_en
European Commission, Urban Mobility Observatory. (2025, October 29). Have your say on the collection of urban mobility data per urban node. https://urban-mobility-observatory.transport.ec.europa.eu/news-events/news/have-your-say-collection-urban-mobility-data-urban-node-2025-10-29_en
POLIS Network. (n.d.). Urban Nodes taskforce. https://www.polisnetwork.eu/what-we-do/working-groups/urban-nodes/
FAME Project Policy Brief: Empowering cities to lead CCAM deployment: https://www.connectedautomateddriving.eu/blog/fame-policy-brief-empowering-cities-to-lead-cooperative-connected-and-automated-mobility-ccam-deployment/
Q-Park. (n.d.). Urban nodes and SUMPs. https://www.q-park.com/expertise/newsitem/100900/urban-nodes-sumps