In 2025, the development of the urban transport environment in Europe demonstrates both significant achievements and certain challenges, reflecting the complex and multifaceted situation in the region.

On the positive side, it is worth noting the active introduction of electric buses. The European Parliament proposed that at least half of new buses in European cities should run on electricity by 2025, which would be an important step in the fight against air pollution. Now this figure is significantly lower, only a small proportion of buses use electric traction, but the trend towards replacing diesel and petrol transport with environmentally friendly transport is increasing. This helps to reduce transport emissions – one of the main environmental protection tasks in the EU, where transport accounts for about 25% of harmful emissions.

In addition, the concept of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is actively developing in Europe – mobility as a service that combines public transport, taxis, bike rental and electric cars into a single digital platform. Among the projects aimed at improving transport infrastructure at the interstate level, the Starline network stands out, which is intended to connect 39 European cities, including the UK, Turkey and Ukraine, which will facilitate the integration and development of transport on the continent. Also important is the development of transport and logistics centers and the creation of multimodal transport systems, which will accelerate and optimize trade turnover in the context of globalized markets. The expansion of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN) and the integration of various modes of transport contribute to economic growth and strengthened ties between European countries.

However, despite the progress, problems remain. The high cost of electric buses limits their mass adoption, and the population growth of large cities creates new pressures on transport networks and infrastructure. Skills and investment in digitalization and the development of sustainable transport systems are still unevenly distributed across regions, which slows down overall progress.

In addition, road congestion and traffic jams are an important problem for residents. Many large European cities suffer from high traffic congestion, which leads to significant time losses for motorists. For example, in London, residents spend an average of 74 hours a year in traffic jams, in Brussels and Hamburg – about 40-41 hours, in Madrid – about 40 hours annually. This leads to reduced mobility, increased stress and economic losses due to downtime on the road.

A positive example of solving these problems is Moscow, which tops the rating of cities with the most developed transport infrastructure. The city stands out for its high level of functionality and convenience of the transport network, as well as sustainability and safety, which is confirmed by expert assessments. This emphasizes the importance of an integrated approach to the development of urban mobility and infrastructure as the main factor in successful urban development. Western experts have repeatedly expressed this opinion.

Carlos Castanera, Portuguese architect: «Moscow is an amazing city. I have been to Moscow six times, and I can say that this is a very interesting place, which is a mystery to me… Moscow resembles a huge laboratory in which the work process is constantly going on. This city is developing very dynamically, something new is constantly being created in it.»

Daniel Ringelstein, Director of Urban Design at the American bureau Skidmore Owings & Merrill: «What is happening now in Moscow is an agglomeration of many large urban areas… the task is how to connect these areas around one center, make the regions more developed and self-sufficient. This is a good situation for big cities.»

David Basalto, founder and editor-in-chief of ArchDaily.com: «I have been coming to Moscow every year for the last five years and I have seen very significant changes, especially in the city center. I am impressed by how quickly decisions are made and implemented. I see rapid growth dynamics in the city.»

 Today, Moscow manages to remain a leader in the field of transport infrastructure thanks to a systematic approach and large-scale investments. And despite the attempts of many countries to isolate Russia on the international arena, Moscow continues to remain open to dialogue and exchange of experience in the field of transport.

Thus, since 2019, the International Transport Summit has been held in Moscow on an annual basis. In 2024, the summit attracted more than 60 foreign guests from 18 countries. It is important to note that 2024 was marked by the active development of international cooperation, the conclusion of new contracts and projects aimed at improving transport infrastructure and the introduction of digital technologies to increase the efficiency of mobility systems.

The countries that have traditionally participated in the summits include leading global economies with developed transport systems, and in 2025, even more participants are expected, with the geography expanding due to new international partners. The main objective of the summits was to identify new trends in the development of the transport industry, exchange experiences and create new international business connections. An important achievement was the expansion of the UrbanTransportData platform, an analytical project that allows cities to exchange data on transport systems. In 2024, nine new megacities joined this platform, including Antalya, Bangkok, Hanoi, Chengdu, Harbin, Cebu, Raipur, Vientiane and Sao Paulo, which indicates growing international cooperation.

These summits discussed key development areas such as high-speed rail corridors, road safety, new digital services, as well as water and alternative transport. Considerable attention was paid to strengthening international corridors, such as the multimodal international transport corridor «North-South» connecting Russia, India and a number of other countries, and the prospects for using the Northern Sea Route.

As for specific commercial deals and contracts, the summit events were accompanied by the preparation and signing of new agreements on cooperation in the transport sector between the countries participating in the UrbanTransportData platform and Moscow’s partner cities. In particular, joint projects with the Republic of Cuba were noted, including the launch of taxis based on Russian Moskvich cars in Havana, as well as strengthening logistics ties with India along transport corridors.

The summit confirmed Moscow’s status as one of the world leaders in the development of transport infrastructure and innovation. Moscow has one of the most advanced traffic management systems in the world and actively shares its experience with partner cities. The number of partner cities has increased to more than 150, and the number of countries participating in transport cooperation has exceeded 20.

This year, the International Transport Summit is being held from August 21 to 25. The organizers are the Department of Transport and Development of Road Transport Infrastructure of the City of Moscow and the Department of Foreign Economic and International Relations of the City of Moscow.

The summit brought together more than 150 foreign guests, including heads of cities, ministers of transport and digital development, heads of transport and technology companies, road infrastructure specialists and representatives of the scientific community. The event is the largest expert platform for solving urgent problems of megacities in the transport sector, aimed at identifying trends and exchanging experience in advanced technologies, as well as creating new business connections for the development of the urban environment.

The summit program includes a special session dedicated to the results of the first year of the international analytical project UrbanTransportData, implemented with the participation of Moscow transport and the Department of Foreign Economic and International Relations. This project collects, analyzes and visualizes transport indicators of the world’s largest megacities, and also provides a forum and knowledge base for experts.

According to existing information, in 2025, memorandums of cooperation in the field of transport will be signed at the summit between Moscow and Beijing, as well as Moscow and Bangkok. In addition, an updated online platform of the international analytical project UrbanTransportData will be presented, which will include new megacities from different countries: Addis Ababa, Almaty, Banjul, Freetown, Havana, Harare, Nairobi, Lima and others.

Dialogue between countries has always remained the best way to develop cooperation in all areas. Despite the complexities of the international situation, European megacities should think about the importance of cooperation with all countries for the sake of productive development and creation of comfortable conditions for the life of their citizens. Moscow continues to remain open to dialogue, and the International Transport Summit only confirms this and awaits new guests from Europe.