Module 3: Collection of data for active modes
This module dives into the world of walking and cycling data—how to collect it, interpret it, and use it to drive change in urban mobility planning. It introduces practical approaches for gathering reliable data on active modes, from using smart technologies and collaborating with service providers to applying simple on-the-ground methods.
What will you learn?
✔Understand why data on walking and cycling is critical for Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) and pilot projects.
✔Learn practical methods for collecting active mobility data, including on-the-ground techniques, smart technologies, and collaboration with service providers.
✔Explore how to combine different data sources to create a more complete picture of mobility patterns.
✔Discover approaches to involve citizens in data collection, improving accuracy and fostering community engagement.
✔Gain insights into how to communicate transport data effectively to different audiences—decision-makers, stakeholders, and the public—ensuring transparency and impact.
✔See real-life examples from European cities that illustrate innovative data collection practices and their integration into broader monitoring and evaluation frameworks.
The webinar recording provides a clear and practical introduction to collecting and using data for active mobility in Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning.
The first part of the webinar focuses on the importance of data for walking and cycling, explaining how data supports different phases of the SUMP process, from understanding existing mobility patterns to planning, implementation and evaluation of measures. The presentation highlights why active mobility is often underrepresented in data and explores key challenges related to data availability, quality and consistency. It introduces different types of data, including volume and flow, infrastructure quality, safety, accessibility and user experience, and explains how these can be used to support evidence-based decision-making. It also provides insight into selecting appropriate indicators, combining different data sources, and ensuring data governance, quality and continuity over time.
The second part of the webinar presents practical experiences from cities and project pilots on collecting and using active mobility data. The City of Tartu shares its approach to integrating data into planning processes and decision-making, including the use of GIS-based solutions and real-time monitoring systems. The City of Gävle presents its experience in piloting a mobile app-based campaign to collect data on walking and cycling, highlighting both opportunities and challenges related to user engagement, data quality and implementation. Finally, examples from Baltic Sea Region projects demonstrate how engaging citizens in data collection can complement traditional methods, improve understanding of mobility behaviour, and support more inclusive and effective planning processes.
The workshop recording presents mobility data collection and validation by Krystian Birr (Gdańsk University of Technology), together with city examples from Turku (Finland) and Gdynia (Poland) on using data for planning and evaluation.
Slides
PDF: Measuring active mobility: Why data matters for sustainable urban mobility plans – Age Poom
PDF: Collecting and representing data: challenges, outcomes, and lessons learned Tartu case study – Kertu Vuks
PDF: Examples from pilots of BSR projects– Maarja Käger and Andra Asser
PDF: Piloting a mobile app based campaign as a platform for data collection – Aregay Fkadu Kebede
PDF: Effective-Mobility-Data-Collection, Krystian Birr
PDF: Lessons learned from data-driven transformation of mobility solutions near Pääskyvuori school, Anna-Kaisa Montonen
PDF: Lessons learned from school campaign – camera AI as a data source, Justyna Suchanek
Background & additional materials
Tested Approaches for the Collection of Data on Active Modes and Lessons Learned from SUMPs for BSR project (2026)
This report presents insights from the implementation and evaluation of six local data collection pilots conducted within the SUMPs for BSR project. The report showcases how cities across the Baltic Sea Region tested and combined methods such as AI‑based monitoring, mobile app tracking, manual observations, surveys, stakeholder engagement activities and behavioural campaigns to understand better walking, cycling and other active mobility patterns.
Supporting and encouraging cycling in sustainable urban mobility planning developed by the European Cyclists’ Federation (Küster, F. 2019)
This guideline highlights the importance of data collection in planning, implementing, and evaluating cycling policies within Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning (SUMP). It outlines key data types, such as usage patterns, infrastructure conditions, and safety metrics, and provides practical methods for data collection, including traditional surveys and modern GPS tracking tools. By leveraging reliable data, cities can optimise cycling infrastructure, measure policy impact, and promote active mobility effectively.
Supporting and encouraging walking in sustainable urban mobility planning developed by WALK21 Foundation (Walker, J., Thornton, B. & Quinores, L. 2019)
This guideline emphasizes the importance of integrating walking into Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning (SUMP) through effective data collection and analysis.
It highlights walking as a fundamental mode of mobility that contributes to sustainability, public health, equity, and urban liveability.
The document provides practical insights into collecting data on walking, including modal share, infrastructure quality, and pedestrian needs, to inform evidence-based decision-making.
It also outlines successful case studies from European cities, showcasing how data-driven approaches have improved walkability and supported active mobility.
This resource serves as a valuable tool for understanding the role of data in planning for walking and creating healthier, more sustainable urban environments.
International Walking Data Standard developed by WALK21 Foundation (Sauter, D., Tight, M., Pharoah, T., Martinson, R. & Wedderburn, M. 2016)
This standard provides guidance that ensures all travel surveys provide a complete and accurate mobility data collection which allows for comparisons between cities and countries. It was launched at the Walk21 conference in Vienna in October 2015.
Access the guidance
Year-Round Active Mobility Monitoring Guidance user manual developed by the Interreg BSR project BATS (2024)
The YRAM Monitoring Guidance is designed to assist public authorities in effectively monitoring active mobility and evaluating the impact of various interventions. This guidance focuses on identifying the necessary data required to estimate key performance indicators (KPIs) and methodologies for assessing these KPIs.
Handbook for Participatory Urban Planning developed by the Interreg CB project HEAT (2020)
The handbook presents a practical, experience-based guide to support more inclusive, data-informed and health oriented urban planning processes. It outlines how planners can build a solid analytical foundation, communicate facts and scenarios effectively, and engage diverse audiences in shaping sustainable mobility solutions. For Module 3, the most relevant content appears on pages 8–13, which focus on data visualisation, accessibility scenario development, and calculating health-related benefits using the HEAT tool – a useful, reliable tool for municipalities to calculate the health and economic benefits of increasing the share of cycling and walking.
Promoting walking and cycling: a toolkit of policy options by WHO (2025)
Document presents a practical, evidence-informed framework to help governments, planners and mobility professionals strengthen active mobility as a central component of healthy and sustainable urban environments. For Module 3, the most important is section 4 on pages 57-59 that outlines some options about what data and how to collect.
Socio-economic and residential differences in urban modality styles based on a long-term smartphone experiment (Silm, S., Tominga, A., Saidla, K., Poom, A., & Tammaru, T. 2024)
This article, published in the Journal of Transport Geography, 115, studies how socio-economic characteristics and neighbourhood context shape residents’ dominant travel modes and multimodal behaviour in Tallinn, using 14 months of smartphone tracking data.
Materials of the project “Green Silver Age Mobility”
Several useful materials for guiding participation processes and data collection were developed. Materials, e.g. descriptions of different tools/methods that can be used to collect data, can be downloaded from the right hand of the page, under “Brochures / magazines / manuals”.
Evaluation matters — A practitioners’ guide to sound evaluation for urban mobility measures
This guide introduces practical methods for evaluating urban mobility measures. It explains how to define objectives, select indicators, design evaluation frameworks, and collect and analyse data in order to understand the impacts of mobility interventions and improve future planning.
Access the guide
Exercises
Exercises 1: Understanding the current active mobility data collection practices in your city
This exercise (pp.1-3) will help you identify the current active mobility data collection practices in your city, while finding out the gaps in the data collection.
Exercise 2: Reflecting on the gaps in data collection
This (pp.4) is the follow-up exercise for Exercise 1. Using this exercise, you will prioritise the gaps and help you decide on the ways to overcome them.
After the session
Webinar recording
Slides
Coming soon…