INRIX joined global urban innovators at this year’s Smart City Expo World Congress, where the conversation around open data standards for transportation took center stage.
As European cities continue to evolve toward more connected, sustainable, and data-driven mobility systems, INRIX is proud to share our experience of building and applying open data frameworks that help cities and companies work better together.
Six Years of Leadership in Open Mobility Standards
For over six years, INRIX has been a proud member of the Open Mobility Foundation (OMF), contributing to the creation and adoption of two cornerstone open data standards: the Mobility Data Specification (MDS) and the Curb Data Specification (CDS). These frameworks empower public agencies and private mobility providers to exchange data securely and transparently.
These standards are embedded in various INRIX products. INRIX Curb Analytics and INRIX Road Rules platforms are fully CDS-compliant and widely used by U.S. cities including San Francisco, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and Boston. These tools empower cities to visualize, manage, and optimize curb space and mobility policies, while enabling private-sector partners to consume standardized curb data. Together, they form a dynamic public-private data-sharing ecosystem built on transparency and collaboration.
Similarly, INRIX Ride Report was built integrating MDS from its inception. This has allowed micromobility, delivery robot, carshare, and microfreight delivery to share and visualize data in the tools so cities are able to make decisions leveraging never-before-seen insights.
Open Data Standards for Smarter Cities
During the Smart City Expo, I shared insights as part of a forum organized by OMF, POLIS, the EIT Urban Mobility, and Cityfi. about bringing together public agencies and private company consumers and providers of data to form a data-sharing ecosystem centered around open data standards. I talked about the challenges early in shared micromobility of each operator providing and city requesting data in a bespoke format, often through csv files. By aligning open standards, cities can set the terms for how data is shared and used, ensuring accountability and privacy. This approach has proven successful across U.S. cities that now leverage MDS and CDS to manage micromobility, rideshare, and curb space more effectively, creating public-private scaling ecosystem. For example, in Seattle, WA, shared micromoblity trips have increased from 3.3M trips with an average of 4,600 daily vehicles for the 12 months from October 2021-September 2022 to 9.9M trips with an average of 12,900 daily vehicles for the 12 months from October 2024-September 2025 (source: public.ridereport.com). This kind of scaling could only be possible with the transparency that an open data ecosystem provides.
A Foundation Ready for Europe
In Europe, INRIX is already helping cities harness the power of open mobility data. We currently provide ready-to-use parking and curb data in CDS format in 75 cities across the EU and UK. The City of Hamburg uses several INRIX products to support its urban mobility strategy, including INRIX Roadway Analytics to study historical traffic patterns and anticipate how construction projects or policy changes affect network performance. Additionally, Hamburg employs INRIX Trip Analytics to analyze multimodal travel behavior, helping the city plan more effectively for all types of travelers. Whether a city is already data-rich or just beginning its open-data journey, INRIX can help connect the dots between policy, infrastructure, and innovation.
Building a European Data Ecosystem
The European data governance context differs from that of the U.S. with distinct regulations, priorities, and interoperability frameworks. INRIX is eager to collaborate with policymakers, cities, and technology partners across Europe to identify next steps toward harmonized open data standards that balance innovation, privacy, and scalability. Ultimately, we believe that having a standard that can be used easily across borders will be the most mutually beneficial for all public and private stakeholders. We are excited to be part of the conversation and look forward to continued involvement.
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