UPPER – Unleashing the Potential of Public Transport in Europe is a Horizon Europe project coordinated by UITP and running from January 2023 to March 2027.
UPPER aims to strengthen the role of public transport as the cornerstone of sustainable and innovative mobility. The project will implement a combination of measures looking to push people out of private cars and to pull them closer to public transport in cities across Europe.
UPPER works with 10 cities and regions:
- Budapest
- Hannover region
- Leuven
- Lisbon
- Mannheim
- Oslo
- Rome
- Thessaloniki
- Valencia
- Versailles Grand Parc – Île de France
Key milestones of the UPPER journey will be increasing public transport uptake by over 30% and user satisfaction by over 25, without leaving anyone behind.
UPPER Measures
At an operational level, UPPER will implement 84 measures and act on five innovation axes to positively influence users’ choices:
- Mindset & Culture
- Urban Mobility Planning
- Mobility Services Ecosystem
- Road Network Management
- Democratic Governance
The project will adopt an integrated and holistic approach to:
- Ease the cooperation among authorities and operators;
- Offer a physical and digital environment to test measures;
- Update the existing Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs);
- Optimise the public transport offer, in line with user needs and patterns;
- Seek users’ involvement in the overall mobility decision chain;
- Encourage behavioral change in favor of public transport uptake;
- Achieve an attractive, efficient, reliable, safe, inclusive and affordable public transport system, as outlined in Mobility as a Right (MaaR) concept.
Tools for your city
Policy Recommendations
Eurocities contributed to the definition of D2.4 UPPER Measures, requirements and policy recommendations, as part of the WP2: User needs, baselines definition and project requirements. In this document, you will be able to find a thorough explanation of the UPPER measures requirements and policy recommendations for the five following innovation axes guiding the project. These are being regularly discussed and adjusted throughout the project’s duration, given the learnings of each pilot.
UPPER took the spotlight during Eurocities’ annual Mobility Forum in Rome (March 2026), with a focus on heritage nodes, future flows. In this, city leaders, planners, and innovators were invited to explore how heritage-rich cities can absorb increasing pressure while steering a more sustainable, interconnected future. Rome presented the Roma Gioca Sostenibile, with a focus on leveraging communication and behavioural change.
U-TRANSFER
Eurocities is responsible for the U-Transfer tool: a knowledge hub dedicated to learning and training purposes. U-TRANSFER will offer a dynamic and interactive platform to guide the cities and PTOs through the implementation of knowledge and solutions demonstrated in UPPER and deposited in U-KNOW repository. It will also provide space for knowledge exchange and discussion on the enablers and barriers that govern the implementation and replication of successful solutions. U-TRANSFER will provide tailored workshops, courses and implementation roadmaps based on detailed mapping of needs of the visitors of the platform.
Relationships with ambassador cities and city visits could be established through the platform based on a matchmaking process that can facilitate relationships based on similar challenges, cultural and governance background. U-TRANSFER will provide transferability guidelines that will facilitate the transferability of UPPER solutions to a broader range of cities.
Other U-TOOLS are being developed in UPPER; you can read more about them here:
Please reach out to the project coordinator if you want to get in touch with the appropriate developers.
Communication, Dissemination & Exploitation
UPPER and its network
Eurocities and UPPER partners also ensure that the project is well represented in relevant networks. UPPER is part of the CIVITAS Public Transport Cluster with sister project SPINE. SPINE aims to accelerate progress towards climate neutrality by integrating public transport systems with new mobility services, sharing schemes, active transport modes, and micromobility.
Through this close relationship, CIVITAS creates strong thematic links, facilitates knowledge-sharing, finds synergies and cooperation opportunities, and ensures the dissemination of the projects’ results. Key highlights from UPPER were illustrated in CIVITAS Inspiration on Public Transport.
UPPER also contributes to achieving the goals of the EU Mission: Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities. All the project’s pilots are a part of the 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities. Here are the key milestones and objectives of the EU Mission:
- Deliver 100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030
- Ensure that these cities act as experimentation and innovation hubs to enable all European cities to follow suit by 2050
To this end, Eurocities will work closely with the NetZeroCities consortium to ensure relevant learnings and tools are integrated into its platform.
Through this work, Eurocities helps cities make informed, strategic decisions that will shape the future of urban mobility, ensuring safer, more efficient, and sustainable transport systems for all citizens.
Although UPPER’s activities will soon wrap up, that doesn’t mean that Eurocities or its members are finished in their quest to make local mobility more environmentally and people friendly. Scroll down through our mobility topic page to discover our other projects, news and resources in this essential and ever-evolving area.
