NEMU in Istanbul: tackling barriers for seamless cross-border mobility

The NEMU project was strongly represented at the ITS European Congress in Istanbul, contributing to two sessions focused on enabling seamless multimodal travel across borders.

The “Roam like home” concept was presented as a vision for enabling users to plan, book, and pay for cross-border journeys in a single flow.

SIS 38: Roam like home — How to enable the freedom to travel everywhere in Europe using sustainable and smart multimodal mobility on ground and sea.

The NEMU project hosted a workshop, SIS 38, to explore the challenges and pain points for enabling freedom to travel everywhere in Europe using sustainable multimodal mobility in one go.

Hanne Kristin Nettum Breivik, from ITS Norway, introduced Nordic+ and the NEMU project, which is owned by Nordic+. NEMU – Roam like Home – the concept was briefly introduced by Brede Dammen, Entur, in a Q&A style with Søren Sørensen, ITSDanmark.

How the European regulatory framework enables seamless mobility was made clear by Tu-Tho Thai, the NeTEx subgroup within CEN.

The main part of the session was the workshop, where we formed groups from the audience to address major blockers to seamless cross-border multimodal planning, booking, and payment. It was inspiring to witness the discussion, the knowledge sharing, and pinpointing of the resistance to opening the market for multimodal cross-border travelling in one go.

The takeaways are that many can pinpoint and agree on the blockers. Now, how do we overcome these blockers:

Some of the feedback included:

SIS 61: One Baltic Journey: Data-driven multimodal management across three countries.

Søren Sørensen also joined the panel on the SIS 61 session organised by ITS Latvia

As the Baltic region works towards more seamless passenger and freight flows, including making the supply chains better and resilient, digital infrastructure with real-time data platforms, digital twins, and MaaS solutions has become essential.

SIS 61 was moderated by Evan Costagliola (Cityfi Europe), an expert in regional MaaS and mobility governance. The session included representatives from all three Baltic States.

Madis Sassiad (City of Tallinn) shared progress from Tallinn’s pilots in e-ticketing, on-demand mobility, and MaaS integration.

Edgars Starkis (ITS Latvia) presented the Riga region’s advancements in multimodal transport management, driven by the Riga Metropolitan Area Action Plan and practical steps toward seamless regional bus-rail coordination to improve public transportation connectivity in Latvia.

Gintare Janušaitienė (Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Lithuania) introduced the government’s initiative to have national MaaS ready by 2029 and explained why it is important to create a sustainable mobility data platform together with the State data agency.  

Finally, Søren Sørensen, NEMU project lead, shared the NEMU project’s experience of seamless travel across the Nordics in one go. In 4 easy steps, the Baltics could copy the recipe. Utilising already EU-mandated standards for open mobility data and plenty of proven open-source tools, it is basically plug-and-play.

Great panel discussion on how shared digital frameworks can accelerate BMC’s objectives and how the Baltic experience can serve as a model for other European regions facing similar challenges. The panel also discussed concrete next steps for harmonising data, aligning governance structures, and scaling interoperable mobility and transport services across borders, ultimately contributing to a more integrated, user-centred Single Market for mobility and transport.

And it is a wrap for the NEMU project camping out in Istanbul. Follow us for more information and be part of the movement to reduce artificial digital barriers for seamless trips across the Nordics, the Baltics, and beyond.