Investing in impact: three inclusive mobility trends

Tomorrow is International Women’s Day, an opportunity to celebrate women's achievements while also recognising and addressing the barriers that still prevent them from participating and reaching their full potential in society. Since many of these barriers are shared, it is also a day to acknowledge their broader negative impacts on other demographics, further underscoring the need to remove and lower them.??

These challenges exist across many areas of life - health, labour and economics to name a few. Mobility is no exception. For example, Data & Diversity in Mobility 2024 found that a third of mobility companies do not collect any information on the age, gender or place of residence of their users. This “...leads to a systematic neglect of women's experiences, needs and realities. This lack of data affects many areas, from health, product design, urban planning and artificial intelligence to mobility.”?

Inclusive mobility is essential to ensuring sustainable mobility systems that are accessible, affordable and safe for everyone. With growing urbanisation, climate change impacts and economic instabilities, a one-size-fits-all approach is no longer viable for our transport systems.?

In this article, we will look at three of the five inclusive mobility trends uncovered in the Better Mobility Trendreport 2025, authored by Point&, Impact Hub Vienna, EIT Urban Mobility and the companies and solutions working to realise them.?

Building a holistic system?

“A comprehensive system must prioritise integration and accessibility, emphasising seamless and digital cross-border cooperation, where multimodal hubs combine diverse mobility services. Public transport planning should focus on passengers, ensuring barrier-free access throughout the entire journey.” (Better Mobility Trendreport, 2025)?

Key to an inclusive transport system is ensuring that users with different physical abilities can access the services required for daily life. Andyamo is addressing this need by developing pedestrian and multimodal route calculators for people with reduced mobility. This includes people with physical disabilities who use an aid, those who have visual impairments, elderly people and even caregivers who use strollers. By creating an accessible trip planner with turn-by-turn navigation, Andyamo aims to provide a seamless travel experience and empower users to explore their surroundings with confidence.

Earlier this year, as part of a Toyota Mobility Foundation project in the City of Vichy, Andyamo launched the first pedestrian turn-by-turn navigation system. This innovation provides pedestrian instruction while enhancing user position accuracy—an important step toward more inclusive urban mobility.

With an ageing population in European cities, the need to provide services for those with reduced mobility becomes more and more important. For example, in France alone, over 20% of the population has reduced mobility, highlighting the urgent need for holistic and inclusive solutions. In addition, the Better Mobility Trendreport revealed that in the EU, only 10% of those aged 65 and over are using digital mobility solutions—a concerning statistic given the growing reliance on digital tools in everyday life.

Andyamo is working to bridge this gap by simplifying multimodal navigation, integrating their accessibility-focused solution into a single app. By doing so, they aim to make urban navigation easier—not just for those with reduced mobility, but for everyone, reducing the cognitive load even for the most experienced city travelers.

Prioritising health in a changing climate??

“Prioritising health is vital as climate change heightens risks, especially for vulnerable groups and an ageing society. Green spaces, traffic-calming and safe, accessible infrastructure for active mobility reduce stress, enhance independence and promote wellbeing.” (Better Mobility Trendreport, 2025)?

In ageing societies, a lack of physical activity can be a real concern and threat to both physical and mental health. Walk15 gamifies physical activity, encouraging people to move more while also tracking their carbon footprint reduction. Users can turn steps into rewards, companies can engage employees in sustainability challenges, and even governments have leveraged Walk15 to promote active lifestyles. A standout example is Walk15’s collaboration with the Lithuanian government, which led to the National Mobility challenge, inspiring over 160,000 participants to walk a total of 45 billion steps. This initiative not only promotes active lifestyles but also fosters inclusivity through accessible routes and community engagement, helping us move towards a healthier and more sustainable future.?

Recognised as one of Sifted’s top 30 fastest-growing startups in Eastern Europe and the Baltics, Walk15 is also a great example of how startups in EIT Urban Mobility’s Scale-up Programme are shaping the future of urban mobility.?

The need for active mobility is evident, as by 2030, one in four people in the EU will be over 64 years old, with many eager to stay active. Shifting to active transport modes such as walking and cycling could generate €1,170 in health savings per capita, each year, between 2022 and 2050, in addition to the increased quality of life regular physical activity gives.?

Enhancing safety and security?

“Vision Zero is the goal of reducing road deaths, requiring stronger regulations and safer infrastructure. Reliable public transport, inclusive mobility services, and resilient infrastructure adapted for extreme weather are essential for safety and user trust.” (Better Mobility Trendreport, 2025)?

While the infrastructure within urban environments plays a key role in safety, smart innovations also offer solutions for reducing road injuries and death when accidents do occur.??

Recognised as one of 25 women driving Swedish mobility, Emma Garatea is CEO and Founder of Cocoon Airbag Protection, the company behind the world's safest child seat for bicycles. The solution is a patented airbag protection for child seats on bicycles that deploys around the child in case of an accident.?

Within the EU, men cycle 3-4 times more than women. As women are more likely to be travelling with children, it’s unsurprising that safety concerns contribute to this gap. Addressing these concerns through better infrastructure and safety-focused tools will be key to closing the gap over time.

Impact: removing mobility barriers?

Just as mobility must be holistic in its structure and design to meet everyone's needs, impact investing must also take a comprehensive approach. Investors should considers not only financial returns but also environmental and societal impacts when making decisions. At EIT Urban Mobility, our investment strategy is built on generating positive outcomes for both people and the planet while maintaining competitive market returns. To achieve this, we strictly assess portfolio companies based on their impact metrics alongside financial indicators.

This article discusses only three of the five findings from the Better Mobility Trendreport 2025. Want to know the rest? Read the full report.?

What are some trends you have seen in your daily commute which may make a difference and make mobility more inclusive???