SPINE Project is one of the European Commissions’ largest scale Missions projects and is funded under the Horizon Europe Climate, Energy and Mobility Program. Coordinator INLECOM will orchestrate the 39-patner consortium who will be working together for the next 4 years to accelerate the progress towards climate neutrality by reinforcing public transport systems through their smart integration with new mobility services, sharing schemes, active transport modes, and micromobility. 

SPINE adopts an equity centred design thinking approach, leading the transition to a more efficient, sustainable, resilient, and inclusive Public Transport system.

A network of collaborative LLs is developed to foster transferability, while an intersectional view of the transport system users is applied. Four Lead City LLs in Antwerp, Bologna, Tallin and Las Palmas will be established, and a series of co-creation activities will take place where multiple stakeholders will be actively engaged in the development and demonstration of efficient, replicable, and socially acceptable innovative mobility solutions, advancing existing assets.

The SPINE approach involves the creation of innovative simulation and Digital Twinning tools, along with open data and behavioral models, that will allow the building of scenarios combining different mobility interventions (push and pull measures along with supporting policies) and the implementation of the most promising ones. Data-driven impact assessment models will foster the twinning, transferability and adaptation of the successful solutions of the four Livings Labs in seven Twinning Cities: Barreiro, Valladolid, Zilina, Sibenik, Hrakleion, Gdynia and Rouen. SPINE sets a high ambitious plan for the co-design and implementation of 55 smart greens inclusive mobility solutions.

SPINE’s vision will be attained through these 6 challenging objectives:

• Analyze the urban/suburban/peri-urban form, physical and functional structure, natural environment, and public realm, within which PUBLIC TRANSPORT systems operate, to define innovative strategies and new approaches of significant impact, while developing a new integrated framework to facilitate the co-creation and co-management of innovative mobility solutions that will be affordable, inclusive and resilient.
• Setup, prototype, test, demonstrate and evaluate innovative mobility solutions, complemented, and reinforced by appropriate policy measures, in four LLs, by engaging local ecosystem actors to formulate an open and collaborative community that will co-create the solutions. The demonstrations will be validated by documenting their setup, activities, innovations, outcomes, and user acceptance feedback, assessing the risks and trade-offs of the mobility solutions.
• Define and implement the digital tools that will enable the deployment of innovative mobility solutions, through the integration of PUBLIC TRANSPORT with new mobility services (e.g., Digital Twins (DT), simulations, AI, behavioral models, and data driven decision making systems).
• Deploy, demonstrate, and evaluate innovative mobility solutions and business models in six Twinning Cities, revealing the adaptability and replicability of solutions successfully demonstrated in the four LLs.
• Foster the dissemination, transferability, replication, and up-scaling of innovative solutions by encouraging cross-pollination activities across pilot and other European cities and streamlining the up-taking and rapid adaptation of evaluated solutions.
• Contribute to the changing canvas of the European transport policy framework, especially on the local and regional level by documenting the identified pathways and solutions and aligning the outcomes with the recent advancements in spatial and mobility planning, SUMPs and SULPs (Sustainable Urban Mobility/Logistics Plans).

SPINE is expected to achieve an increase of Public Transport in the modal distribution of motorized transportation in the Living Lab cities within the course of the project compared to the baseline at the start of the project by setting an ambitious work plan that combines:

1. the implementation in the Living Labs of 55 new urban mobility solutions and push and pull measures that will reinforce existing PT offerings by integrating them with new smart mobility services to increase the PT ridership and impact commuting habits.
2. the adoption of the Equity Centered Design Thinking Approach and the setup of an Open-dialogue digital hub for the engagement of local communities in the co-design of solutions addressing diverse user needs and covering different market/customer segments, catering for specific needs of specific target groups, envisioning a social optimum and the concept of Mobility as a Right”,
3. the employment of digital twins and digital tools as enablers for efficient integrated Urban Mobility Planning and Management,
4. the development Citizens’ mobile app for making new offerings accessible
5. a wide engagement and dissemination plan for raising awareness of SPINE solutions including Public Transport rebranding campaigns and Living Labs cross-pollination activities to maximise adoption and increase the use of Public Transport and integrated mobility solutions.

The SPINE Consortium partners are a multidisciplinary team from 16 countries is a unique mix of experienced transport engineers, public transport Operators, computer scientists, data analysts, transport modelers, social scientists, urban planners, policy analysts, software providers assuring a comprehensive approach to the challenges, scope, expected impact and the successful delivery of the Project.