The Monitoring and Evaluation Framework empowers small and mid‑sized cities to strengthen sustainable urban mobility planning

The SUMPs for BSR project has published a comprehensive Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Framework designed to support cities across the Baltic Sea Region in effective Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning (SUMP). Developed by the University of Gdańsk with extensive input from partner cities, the framework combines strategic guidance with practical tools to help municipalities strengthen how they collect, analyse and use mobility data.

The framework addresses the project’s main objectives: harmonising monitoring and evaluation approaches, strengthening the role of active mobility, and supporting cities in developing coherent, realistic and sustainable M&E systems. These systems are an important component of urban mobility planning, including the preparation, implementation, monitoring and updating of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs). They provide the data needed to diagnose the baseline situation, define measurable objectives, track progress, assess the effectiveness of measures, and support data-based decision-making.

Designed for cities with different capacities

The framework focuses on the needs of very small, small and mid-sized cities, which often face limited staff capacity, constrained budgets and rely on fragmented or incomplete data sources. Under such conditions, designing and maintaining a comprehensive monitoring system can be particularly challenging.

The capacities of different-sized cities are considered in the framework. An effective monitoring and evaluation system does not need to cover all areas of mobility from the outset or rely on advanced tools. Cities can begin with simple, manageable actions, such as monitoring a few key transport corridors, areas around schools, town centres, or locations that are important from the perspective of walking and cycling. This approach allows cities to gradually build capacity, organise available data and develop their monitoring system as their organisational capabilities grow. In this way, the framework supports smaller municipalities in moving from individual measurements and ad-hoc activities towards more systematic, long-term monitoring of urban mobility, useful both for day-to-day management and for preparing and updating SUMPs.

A structured, step-by-step approach

Beyond data identification alone, the framework describes a full cycle for developing and maintaining a robust M&E system. Cities are guided through a process that begins with a review of existing strategies, planning documents and available secondary data. It covers the identification of information gaps, the assessment of the quality and usefulness of existing sources, and the determination of where primary data collection is genuinely needed.

The framework emphasises that an M&E system should be directly linked to the objectives and measures included in the SUMP. This means selecting indicators that are realistic, measurable, possible to monitor regularly, and based on consistent methodologies over time. It discourages the use of overly complex, excessively broad indicator sets, which may exceed a city’s organisational capacity or lead to the collection of data that is not used in practice. An important element of this approach is also the definition of clear responsibilities, reliable data sources and regular measurement intervals. By following this structured logic, cities can develop monitoring systems that are not a one-off exercise, but a permanent element of urban mobility management. This helps avoid common problems such as collecting unused data, lack of data comparability over time, fragmented responsibilities, setting unachievable targets or failing to maintain long‑term consistency.

The M&E Plan Template guides the creation of local plans

To support practical implementation, the framework is accompanied by an M&E Plan Template that helps cities organise their monitoring efforts in a structured way. The template outlines how to describe local context, assess existing practices, select indicators and define responsibilities and reporting routines.

It can be used to build a new M&E plan from scratch or refine the monitoring section of an existing SUMP. The template provides a ready-made structure that cities of different sizes can adapt to their situation.

• Check out the M&E Plan Template

The Indicator Selector Tool helps cities choose meaningful mobility indicators

The Indicator Selector Tool complements the framework by offering an interactive way to navigate a broad catalogue of potential mobility indicators. Cities can quickly filter indicators by themes, city size relevance, importance, data collection effort or EU alignment. In this way, the tool helps narrow down a broad catalogue of possible indicators to a set that best reflects local needs, priorities and available data sources.

The tool encourages cities to start with a small set of key indicators, covering areas such as road safety, active mobility, accessibility, changes in travel behaviour and modal split, and then gradually expand the monitoring system. It supports consistent indicator selection while allowing flexibility for local needs and priorities.

• Check out the Indicator Selector Tool

Supporting active mobility and evidence-driven decisions

Active mobility plays a prominent role throughout the framework, as walking, cycling and micromobility are key elements of a sustainable transport system, particularly in very small, small and mid-sized cities. The document draws on SUMPs for BSR pilot activities conducted in the partner cities, demonstrating how even smaller municipalities can apply different methods to better understand local mobility behaviours. These examples show that reliable and cost-effective monitoring of walking, cycling and micromobility is possible at different scales and can significantly enhance the quality of local mobility planning.

A key resource for cities preparing or updating SUMPs

Together with the Indicator Selector Tool and the M&E Plan Template, the framework forms a complete guide for local authorities. It helps small and medium-sized cities understand what data they already have, what they still need and how they can build a realistic monitoring system that reflects their resources, capacities and priorities.

The framework also provides guidance on how to integrate monitoring into decision‑making and communication processes. This helps ensure that data does not remain only in reports but actively informs planning, discussions with stakeholders, public communication with residents and policy choices.

As expectations for transparent, data-driven and climate-aligned mobility planning continue to rise, the SUMPs for BSR M&E Framework offers cities a practical and realistic way to approach monitoring and evaluation for SUMPs.

Programme Manual Online

Choose