6 February 2023: The European Commission has released the final report of the Multimodal Passenger Mobility Forum (MPMF). The Forum was set up in December 2021 to assist the Commission in the preparation of policy initiatives in the field of sustainable multimodal mobility for passengers. It served as a platform for structured dialogue, exchange of technical knowledge, co-operation and co-ordination between Union Member States and relevant public and private stakeholders.

The work of the MPMF was divided into three sub groups, each with a specific thematic focus:

• Sub group 1 focussed on aligning MDMS with public policy goals, including issues related to sustainability and accessibility (Rapporteur: Polis)
• Sub group 2 focussed on facilitating co-operation between operators and MDMS (Rapporteurs: EPF and BEUC)
• Sub group 3 focussed on enhancing co-operation, addressing self-preferencing practices and enforcement (Rapporteurs: MaaS Alliance and EU Travel Tech)

ERA participated in the discussions of subgroup 2, which addressed the following issues:

• Data quality and cost of data generation
• Developing unique European identifiers for each access node (e.g. bus, tram or metro stop)
• Conditions for access to data (in all transport modes)
• Licence agreements for selling and re-selling mobility services
• Development of harmonised standards for MDMS technical interfaces (APIs)

The discussions between members of the MPMF sub-group 2 highlighted several problems the mobility sector is facing when it comes to making multimodal trips (at local, regional or international level) easy for passengers and end users of mobility services.

The main point of tension lies in the exchange of data between actors, whose conditions must be defined by the MDMS initiative. It was agreed that despite diverging interest between stakeholders, the scope of data sharing and the roles of each actor should be specified by the initiative. It was also stressed that the Commission should also pay specific attention to the integration of the CRS Code of Conduct into the MDMS proposal.

On 10 February 2023, ERA will participate to a workshop organised by the Florence School of Regulation to discuss the different options foreseen by DG MOVE in the MDMS. The Commission proposal should be adopted by Q2 2023.