Cities stand firm on climate and mobility targets

Cities remain committed to sustainable mobility, even as political signals at the EU and national levels point to weakening ambition. According to the 2025 Eurocities Pulse Mayor’s Survey, most mayors feel they’ve made the biggest impact on climate and mobility, expanding public transport, cutting emissions, and investing in clean energy.

However, cities continue to face growing pushback and barriers from the national and European levels of government like insufficient funding, regulatory obstacles, and lack of support for expanding public transport and clean transport initiatives. These make it harder to implement the measures needed to protect the health of their citizens and environment. In response, Eurocities is calling for stronger EU support, funding, and recognition of cities’ leadership.

In the Eurocities Pulse Mayors Survey, sustainable mobility has dropped slightly as a top concern compared to the previous year’s results (from 28% to 23.2%) but cities are still prioritising clean transport. They are expanding cycling networks, improving multimodal connections, and exploring new funding and partnership models to keep the transition on track.

Sustainable mobility starts with strong public transport. In this year’s Eurocities Pulse Mayors Survey, 60% of mayors ranked expanding public transport as a top priority. Cities are focused on improving coverage, frequency and affordability, but major challenges remain.

Mayors point to chronic underfunding as the greatest barrier, with 57% citing insufficient investment in expansion, maintenance and fleet renewal. Rising operational costs like fuel, salaries and maintenance are the second-biggest concern, affecting 43% of cities.

A shortage of drivers and mechanics (35%) is further straining service, particularly in Western and Nordic cities. Ageing infrastructure, poor multimodal integration, traffic congestion, and ride-hailing competition are all challenges affecting the attractiveness of public transport.

Without urgent investment, cities warn of service decline, increased congestion, and higher emissions. Stronger financial and policy support from the EU and national governments is essential. Affordability is also rising up the agenda. As costs climb, cities are working to keep fares low and embed affordability in multimodal systems, especially in Southern and Eastern Europe.

Eurocities is calling for stronger EU support for public transport, including the right for cities to define public service obligations, direct funding, and full implementation of the European Declaration for Sustainable and Attractive Public Transport.

Cities are increasingly adopting zero-emission buses, with the Netherlands, Finland, Iceland, and Norway leading the shift in 2024 sales, while Central and Eastern Europe lags behind. As of 2024, 85% of kilometres travelled by public buses in Oslo are fully electric. Switching to electric buses involves more than buying vehicles; it requires planning for energy systems, charging infrastructure, and depot operations. Though electric buses cost more upfront, they offer lower operating costs and environmental benefits.

Supporting this transition, EU-funded project Big Buyers Working Together’s Community of Practice (CoP) on Zero-Emission Bus Systems and Services (ZEB), brings together experts, ranging from public buyers to operators and suppliers, for shared learning and best practice exchange.

As cities work to modernise their transport systems, digital tools and data are becoming essential. From integrating micromobility to piloting autonomous vehicles, cities are using innovation to provide smarter, more sustainable mobility.

Though the potential is clear, data gaps, lack of standardisation, and limited city capacity make it hard to fully use digital tools. Autonomous mobility could potentially reduce the need for on-street parking and make more efficient use of vehicles and in doing so, free up urban space for better public use.

Projects like USER-CHI, SHOW, and FAME have supported cities to pilot these technologies. Meanwhile, Oslo is integrating micromobility into its public transport app to support seamless multimodal travel.

Eurocities is calling for clear rules and support at the EU level to define cities’ role in EU mobility data legislation, promote regulatory sandboxes for innovation, fund local capacity-building, and improve access to and protection of mobility data

Creating a safer, fairer mobility system is about more than infrastructure. It’s about transforming the culture around space, movement, and community. Across Europe, cities are challenging the long-standing dominance of cars and reclaiming streets for people.

Safety is a top concern and a key policy lever. Traffic calming measures, such as expanding 30 km/h zones, are being adopted across Europe, with Bologna leading a Eurocities taskforce on the topic. Yet cities face pushback. In an open letter in the Financial Times organised by Eurocities, mayors warned of a ‘worrying trend’ of national governments trying to block local safety measures. Bologna’s Valentina Orioli responded: “Mobility policy should be based on science. The decisions we make should align with our desired outcomes.”

Like many cities across Europe, Brussels is also confronting the risks posed by increasingly large vehicles. Inge Paemen of Bruxelles Mobilité points out that oversized cars, including electric SUVs, threaten air quality, public space, and safety. “We have to make room for everyone—pedestrians, cyclists, cars, public transport, and even parked vehicles. Balancing these needs is essential for a liveable city.” Brussels has proposed a vehicle classification system based on weight, with allowances for electric vehicles and family needs to ensure equity.

This rethinking of public space is backed by Eurocities projects like Reallocate, which helps cities redesign their streets to be safer, greener, and more inclusive. Eurocities is also supporting implementation of the EU Cycling Declaration through a dedicated city taskforce, helping local leaders advance the modal shift to active transport.

Cities are pressing ahead with clean mobility solutions, but they need stronger regulatory backing to stay on course. In this year’s Pulse Survey, mayors called for firmer EU action to support the shift to zero-emission transport.

The European Commission’s Automotive Industrial Action Plan outlines measures to support the sector’s transition through 2035, but it also weakens the timeline for CO₂ reductions, raising concerns about Europe’s path to zero-emission mobility. While the plan builds on the Clean Industrial Deal and includes positive elements, it eases regulatory pressure on carmakers. Notably, a previous requirement to cut emissions by 15% by 2025 (based on 2021 levels) has been replaced with a more flexible approach. Manufacturers can now average their emissions reductions over the 2025–2027 period, effectively delaying real progress.

Across Europe, cities are implementing low- and zero-emission zones, investing in charging infrastructure, and phasing out fossil-fuelled fleets, but this shift risks slowing down the EU’s climate ambitions for the transport sector.

A clear and consistent regulatory framework for the automotive industry helps cities plan and implement measures to meet EU climate and air quality goals. Easing regulatory ambition may risk slowing the pace of progress towards these targets.

To support this transition, Eurocities is calling on the EU to uphold the 2035 fossil vehicle phase-out, fund charging infrastructure and fleet conversion, and establish national frameworks for low-emission zones (LEZ) and urban vehicle access rules (UVAR).

Cities are placing rail and regional connectivity at the heart of Europe’s sustainable mobility future. From high-speed lines to better urban integration, city leaders are not only cutting emissions but rethinking how people move across borders and within regions.

As cities work to expand sustainable transport options, long-distance rail is gaining renewed attention. However, delivering major rail infrastructure projects remains complex, particularly due to the challenges of multi-level governance. Initiatives like the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) require alignment not only at the national and EU levels but also with the needs and plans of cities.

Cities are essential nodes in the European rail system, yet they are often not fully involved in the planning or decision-making processes. This lack of coordination can lead to delays, inefficient project delivery, or infrastructure that does not respond to local mobility priorities. Effective collaboration across all levels of government is crucial to ensure these projects succeed and support broader goals of connectivity, sustainability and urban accessibility.

To scale these efforts, Eurocities is calling for stronger EU action. This includes doubling high-speed rail traffic by 2030, aligning Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) funding with urban priorities, and ensuring Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) are fully integrated into the TEN-T framework. Discount schemes also offer a model for encouraging a shift to rail and should be promoted more widely. These priorities are laid out in Eurocities’ policy statement “Prioritising fast and high-quality passenger train connections in Europe”.

With cities leading on sustainable urban mobility, now is the time for the EU to deliver the tools and investment needed to support this momentum.