Photo credit: Ruter As / Nucleus Øyvind Ganesh Eknes
Active mobility is essential for creating sustainable and liveable cities. When effectively combined with public transport, it provides a seamless and appealing alternative to private car use—encouraging more people to make sustainable travel choices.
In Oslo, the integration of micromobility options directly into the Ruter app has made multimodal journeys more visible, convenient and accessible. As the Move21 and Scale-Up projects hold their final event in Brussels this week, Pia-Suzann Valheim Skulevold, Innovation and Partnership Lead at Ruter, reflects on how MOVE21 helped kickstart the digital integration of city bikes into the city’s public transport system.
Connecting modes, simplifying journeys
Oslo’s goal of achieving a zero-emission public transport system by 2028 is well on track. Since launching its strategy in 2018, the city has fully electrified its ferries, trams, and metro lines, and reached 85% electric coverage of bus kilometres by 2024.This shift has led to a dramatic 95% reduction in CO₂ emissions from buses alone.
These achievements reflect not just technical upgrades, but a broader commitment to behavioural change by making sustainable choices easy and convenient. Skulevold explains what spurred the integration of city bikes into Oslo’s journey-planning and ticketing app, Ruter: “There has been a strong cross-party political will to integrate the city bikes with the public transport. We have about 1,000,000 users in the Ruter app in Oslo and Akershus, and for years we’d been considering how to do the integration. Through our work with Move21, we collaborated with Urban Sharing, which really gave us a kick start.”
“At the same time, Oslo emerged as one of the most popular European markets for e-scooters. That was when we began working on integrating all micromobility options into the app. Ruter’s vision is ‘sustainable freedom of movement’. By this, we mean enabling everyone to move around freely as they want, and making sure that future generations also experience this freedom. ”
One way of working towards this vision, is to add flexibility to our offer by integrating new, sustainable modes of transport.
The Ruter app is a central platform for planning and purchasing multimodal journeys with public transport across Oslo and Akershus. Combining public transport ticketing with micromobility services, it now gives users access to city bikes and e-scooters alongside metro, bus, ferry and tram options.
A key success of this approach has been the seamless integration of Oslo’s City Bike service into the public transport system. Users can view, book, and pay for bike rentals directly through the Ruter app. This enhances accessibility and makes it easier for people to combine shared bikes with public transport for first and last mile travel.
In addition to booking, users can now see real-time availability of bikes and scooters at their next stop. They are even displayed on screens in Oslo’s newest electric buses. These features make it easier for travellers to combine active mobility with public transport, while even pilots outside Oslo have added dedicated micromobility parking zones at key stations.
By treating shared bikes as an integral part of the transport network, Oslo demonstrates how cities can encourage behavioural change at scale. The Oslo model shows that this type of integration is scalable and transferable, offering a useful blueprint for other urban areas.
Looking ahead, Ruter aims to introduce fully integrated multimodal ticketing, allowing passengers to purchase a single combined fare for their entire journey including public transport and micromobility in one price.
Public-private collaboration in action
The key factor behind Oslo’s successful integration of micromobility into its public transport system has been its strong coordination with municipalities and private operators.
“For the integration to succeed, it was essential to involve all relevant actors from the start,” says Skulevold. “We didn’t know exactly what we were getting into at the beginning. For example, this was the first service we integrated where the customer is the driver of the vehicle. There were many new challenges to navigate. A shared goal, along with good and open dialogue, was essential for the collaboration.”
Ruter approached integration as a structured negotiation, working with private e-scooter companies like Voi, Tier,Bolt and Ryde to ensure services aligned with local regulations, urban mobility strategies and public needs. This collaborative approach helped ensure that new services complemented the city’s broader goals for sustainability and accessibility, rather than competing with them.
There were many new challenges to navigate. A shared goal, along with good and open dialogue, was essential for the collaboration.
The integration was deeply data-driven. By embedding shared mobility options in the Ruter app, the system now captures valuable information on how people combine transport modes providing insights that are used to continuously improve services.
A recent user survey showed that 37% of e-scooter riders took their first trip via the Ruter app, a clear sign of how digital tools can nudge users toward sustainable travel options. This level of visibility benefits not just the public operator but also the private companies involved, providing a shared basis for service planning and further innovation.
Replicating the Oslo model
Oslo provides a compelling example of how cities can lead the way in integrating active mobility with public transport to deliver more sustainable and people-centred mobility systems. Through coordinated planning, digital innovation, and close cooperation with both public and private actors, the city has created a multimodal offer that makes sustainable travel not only possible, but convenient and attractive. Initiatives like Move21, Scale-Up, and Upper have played a crucial role in supporting this work, providing the resources, partnerships and flexibility needed to test, scale and refine new mobility solutions.
By embedding cycling, walking, shared micromobility and zero-emission public transport into a single, user-friendly system, Oslo is helping citizens shift away from car dependency. The city’s experience shows that integrating active mobility into the public transport offer is not just a technical challenge, but a behavioural one which requires smart design, clear incentives, and an understanding of how people actually move through their city. The lessons emerging from these projects are directly applicable to other urban areas across Europe looking to reach climate targets, improve air quality, reduce congestion, and enhance overall quality of life.
Curious to know more about how cities can deliver integrated mobility systems? Download the Guide to Multimodal Hubs in Urban Nodes: Policy Recommendations and Best Practices here.
