TRACE · Project

Tracking Tools That Help Cities and Employers Boost Walking and Cycling

transportPilotedTRL 6

h2020-trace.eu

Imagine your phone could automatically log every time you walk or bike to work, the shops, or school — and that data could help your city plan better bike lanes or let your employer reward you with tax breaks for ditching the car. That's what TRACE built: an open-source tracking platform that plugs into real walking and cycling promotion programs. They tested it across 8 European countries with cities, employers, and transport planners to see what actually gets people moving on foot or by bike.

By the numbers

consortium partners involved

European countries where tools were tested

full functioning open access modular tools delivered

total project deliverables produced

SMEs in the consortium

The business problem

What needed solving

Cities invest heavily in cycling and walking infrastructure but lack reliable data on actual usage patterns to justify spending or plan routes. Employers offering bike-to-work schemes cannot verify participation or connect it to tax incentive programs. Both problems stem from the same gap: no standardized, privacy-respecting way to track and use walking and cycling data at scale.

The solution

What was built

The project delivered at least 2 full functioning, documented, open access modular tools forming a common ICT platform for walking and cycling tracking. On top of this platform, representative tracking products were built and tested in real promotion measures across 8 European countries, covering workplace commuting, shopping trips, school routes, and leisure activities.

Audience

Who needs this

MaaS and urban mobility app developers needing cycling/walking data integrationMunicipal transport planners deciding where to build bike lanes and pedestrian pathsHR tech companies building employee commuter benefit and incentive platformsSmart city solution providers adding active mobility to their dashboardsCycling advocacy organizations running promotion campaigns with measurable outcomes

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Urban Mobility & Smart City Solutions

SME

Target: Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform providers or smart city software companies

If you are a MaaS provider struggling to integrate cycling and walking data into your platform — this project developed at least two full functioning open access modular tools that serve as an ICT input/output platform. Anyone can build tracking-based products on top of it, covering commute, shopping, school, and leisure trips across 8 countries' worth of real-world testing.

Corporate Wellness & Employee Benefits

mid-size

Target: HR technology or employee benefits companies

If you are an employee benefits provider looking to offer cycling-to-work incentive schemes — this project specifically tackled the financial and tax incentive tracking challenge. The platform was tested in real workplace commuting programs, handling privacy, trust, and interoperability issues so employers can reward active commuters with verified trip data.

Transport Infrastructure Planning

any

Target: Transport consultancies or municipal planning departments

If you are a transport consultancy advising cities on where to build bike lanes and pedestrian paths — this project developed tracking tools that capture actual walking and cycling movement patterns. Tested with real measures already underway across 8 countries, the platform feeds infrastructure planning decisions with verified mobility data rather than estimates.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to deploy this tracking platform?

The platform was developed as open access, meaning the core modular tools are freely available. Your costs would be integration, customization, and hosting. Since at least two full functioning open access tools were delivered, the barrier to entry is significantly lower than building from scratch.

Can this scale to a full city or national cycling program?

The project was tested in real walking and cycling promotion measures across 8 European countries with 12 consortium partners. The platform was specifically designed for interoperability and flexibility, addressing scheme dynamics at scale. Real-world validation across multiple countries suggests it can handle city-level and multi-city deployments.

What is the IP and licensing situation?

The demo deliverable explicitly states 'open access basic modular tools.' This means the core platform is available for anyone to build products on. Commercial products built on top of the platform would be your own IP, while the base layer remains open.

How does it handle privacy and GDPR concerns?

Privacy and trust were identified as core ICT challenges and were directly tackled in the research. The platform was designed with these constraints built in from the start, tested across multiple EU countries with different privacy regulations. Based on available project data, specific technical privacy measures were part of the 24 deliverables produced.

Is this still maintained after the project ended in 2018?

The project closed in May 2018. The open access tools were delivered and documented, but ongoing maintenance depends on the consortium partners. INESC ID in Portugal coordinated the work and would be the primary contact for current status and any continued development.

Can it integrate with existing city transport systems?

Interoperability was one of the explicit ICT challenges addressed. The platform was designed as a common, flexible input/output system specifically so that external products and services can plug into it. The 12-partner consortium across 8 countries required cross-system compatibility by design.

Consortium

Who built it

The 12-partner consortium spans 8 countries (Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Serbia, UK), giving it broad European coverage for testing mobility patterns in different urban contexts. With 3 industry partners and 4 SMEs (25% industry ratio), the project had commercial players at the table but was primarily driven by research and public-sector organizations (6 classified as 'other,' likely municipalities or transport authorities). The coordinator INESC ID is a well-established Portuguese research institute, not an SME, which means strong technical foundations but commercialization would need to come from the industry partners or external adopters of the open access tools.

INESC ID - INSTITUTO DE ENGENHARIADE SISTEMAS E COMPUTADORES, INVESTIGACAO E DESENVOLVIMENTO EM LISBOACoordinator · PT
GEMEENTE BREDAparticipant · NL
SRM - SOCIETA RETI E MOBILITA SRLparticipant · IT
Univerzitet u Beogradu - Saobracajni fakultetparticipant · RS
TIS PT, CONSULTORES EM TRANSPORTES, INOVACAO E SISTEMAS, SAparticipant · PT
POLISparticipant · BE
SOUTHEND ON SEA BOROUGH COUNCILparticipant · UK
MOBIEL 21 VZWparticipant · BE
LUXMOBILITYparticipant · LU
ENERGY AGENCY OF PLOVDIV ASSOCIATIONparticipant · BG

How to reach the team

INESC ID in Lisbon, Portugal — a major systems engineering research institute. Reach out through their technology transfer office for licensing or collaboration on the open access tools.

Order a report on this consortium See INESC ID - INSTITUTO DE ENGENHARIADE SISTEMAS E COMPUTADORES, INVESTIGACAO E DESENVOLVIMENTO EM LISBOA profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to connect with the TRACE team or explore how their open-source cycling/walking tracking platform fits your product? SciTransfer can arrange a direct introduction and help you evaluate the technology for your use case.

Order a report on this topic More in Transport & Mobility