In recent years, shared mobility has been exponentially growing in Amsterdam. The annual growth rate is expected to exceed 20% by 2030. The Municipality of Amsterdam recognizes shared mobility as an important player in the transition towards a Mobility as a Service (MaaS) ecosystem: a sustainable mobility network with shared electric vehicles, a smart public transport network and little private car ownership. In order to reach this point, the Municipality has to adapt the infrastructure according to these new developments. To acquire insight into mobility flows, data of shared mobility is required. A data standard moulded in an Artificial Programming Interface (API) could be the solution.
An API enables the standardized transmission of data between shared mobility operators and cities. Due to years of delay in the digitization of policy execution, knowledge among municipalities about the criteria for the design and implementation of data standards is low. The aim of this study commissioned by the Municipality of Amsterdam is to provide European cities with further knowledge about the opportunities, bottlenecks and practical possibilities of a European data standard for shared mobility operators.
In this study interviews were conducted with major European cities, organizations in the field of Smart Mobility and experts in data, governance, privacy and urban planning. Literature and document surveys were also conducted, and observations of biweekly meetings with the five largest Dutch cities and the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management were taken into account. The results were analysed with the Grounded Theory, an interpretive and inductive method for analysing qualitative data.
The results show that the main opportunities are clear use-case mapping, a strong legal framework, and joint trust between cities and shared mobility operators. The main bottlenecks are the different interpretations of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) among stakeholders and cities’ lack of data governance capabilities. The most common practical possibilities are the use of the Mobility Data Specification (MDS) and a Trusted Third Partner for data processing and storing.