Guiding Principles

Guiding Principles for seamless multimodal mobility

How can walking, cycling and public transport work together as one coherent system rather than as separate parts of the journey? This is the central question addressed by the new A2PT Guiding Principles, developed within the Active2Public Transport project.

Putting people first

At the heart of the Guiding Principles is a simple idea: mobility systems should be designed around people and their everyday travel needs.
This means ensuring that journeys are safe, comfortable and easy to understand from start to finish, including the first and last mile. Direct walking and cycling connections to public transport, barrier-free access, intuitive wayfinding, secure bicycle parking, reliable services and accessible information all play a crucial role in creating a positive travel experience.
 

The Guiding Principles also recognises that successful integration goes beyond infrastructure. Service organisation, public space design, information systems and cooperation between stakeholders are equally important.

Seven principles for integrated mobility

The Guiding Principles are built around seven universal principles that define what high-quality multimodal mobility should achieve:

1. Put people first
2. Enrich places
3. Connect seamlessly
4. Guarantee equity and inclusion
5. Provide capacity and reliability
6. Maintain quality over time
7. Build sustainably and resiliently
    

Shared responsibility for better mobility

A key feature of the framework is its recognition that integrated mobility requires coordinated action from many different actors.
Building on the universal principles, the document outlines specific responsibilities for infrastructure owners and managers, operators, legislators, planners, researchers, employers and users. By clarifying the role of each stakeholder group, it provides a practical roadmap for improving connections between active mobility and public transport.

Stakeholder-Specific Principles

These translate the universal principles into tailored responsibilities for each actor group:

🏗️ Infrastructure Owners & Managers

• Provide direct, safe and fully accessible walking and cycling access to public transport.
• Create high-quality, welcoming station and stop environments that support multimodal use.
• Maintain infrastructure consistently to ensure safety, comfort and reliability.
• Ensure clear, coherent wayfinding and spatial legibility across walking, cycling and PT environments.
• Plan infrastructure for long-term capacity, adaptability and resilience.

🚌 Operators & Service Providers

• Deliver reliable, frequent and well-coordinated public transport services that support multimodal journeys.
• Provide clear, consistent and multimodal information across all platforms.
• Support integrated ticketing and simple fare structures.
• Enable easy handling and integration of bicycles within the system.
• Ensure safety and comfort for passengers across all stages of the journey.
• Collaborate with infrastructure owners, planners and local authorities.

⚖️ Legislators & Regulators

• Set clear legal and technical standards for safe, accessible and user-centred multimodal infrastructure.
• Enable integrated ticketing, open data and coordinated information systems.
• Align funding and procurement frameworks with sustainable multimodal mobility goals.
• Ensure equity, safety and cross-jurisdictional coordination.

📐 Planners & Designers

• Apply human-centred and inclusive design principles to all multimodal environments.
• Create coherent, legible and easy-to-navigate station and interchange layouts.
• Integrate walking and cycling networks seamlessly with public transport hubs.
• Balance movement efficiency with high-quality public spaces.
• Anticipate future mobility and climate needs in all design decisions.
• Collaborate across disciplines and sectors.

🔬 Researchers & Innovators

• Generate robust, user-centred evidence on behaviour, accessibility and multimodal travel patterns.
• Develop systematic and comparable approaches to assessing multimodal performance.
• Innovate in design, technology and service delivery through experimentation and learning.
• Evaluate interventions through continuous, transparent and learning-oriented assessment.

🏢 Employers & Institutions

• Ensure safe, direct and attractive walking and cycling access to their premises.
• Provide high-quality, secure bicycle parking and supporting facilities.
• Promote sustainable commuting through incentives and mobility programmes.
• Integrate mobility considerations into site planning, development and daily operations.

👥 Users & Communities

• Choose active and public transport whenever feasible and safe.
• Provide feedback on accessibility, safety, comfort and service quality.
• Participate in co-creation and local mobility initiatives.
• Use infrastructure responsibly and support a positive mobility culture.

Supporting the future of mobility in the Danube Region

The A2PT Guiding Principles create a common understanding of what is needed to make walking, cycling and public transport work together effectively. By combining strategic direction with practical guidance, they support the development of more intuitive, inclusive and reliable mobility systems across the Danube Region.

 

Want to learn more? Check out the full document below.

Click here!