Urban mobility is no longer only about getting from A to B. It is a test of how cities organise themselves, a mirror of their social priorities, and a laboratory for the future of public life. At NEXT25, a discussion on Shaping the Future of Urban Mobility with three industry insiders – Natalie Rodriguez Faria (Hamburger Hochbahn), Alexander Mönch (Freenow), and Raimund Kurtensiefen (DB Vertrieb), moderated by Volker Martens (FAKTOR 3) – offered a candid look at what comes next. Their conversation revealed not just the technologies in play but also the more profound cultural and political shifts that will determine whether smart cities truly become smarter.

The state of play: Stable but fragmented

“Cities like Hamburg already have a good, stable public-transport system,” noted Natalie Rodriguez Faria. “But the integration isn’t there yet. The devil is in the details.”

Her point underscores a paradox: Germany’s urban transit is reliable, but the user experience remains choppy. Tickets, apps, tariffs, and schedules often live in separate silos. Raimund Kurtensiefen described how his team works to “map the existing tariffs and push the product forward.” Yet, the framework around the popular Deutschlandticket remains “far from stable,” even as it gives digitalisation a welcome boost.

This tension – between solid infrastructure and fragmented services – defines the mobility challenge. Technology alone will not fix it. Political decisions about market access, tariffs, and data sharing are equally crucial. “We believe the market has to open,” Raimund insisted. “That’s a political decision.”

Platforms, transparency, and the promise of seamlessness

For Alexander Mönch, the path to change runs through digital mobility platforms. “Service and transparency will bring people out of their cars,” he argued. Imagine a system where a single interface offers door-to-door planning, through-ticketing, and instant digital payment. No more juggling apps or deciphering fare zones.

Yet building such a platform requires more than clever coding. Access rights to public-transport sales channels are heavily regulated. “Private companies find it hard to enter the world of public transport,” Raimund warned. True seamlessness will demand regulatory courage as much as technical skill.

Autonomy and experimentation: Moving beyond pilots

Much of the mobility buzz still centres on autonomous vehicles. On this, the panel struck a cautious tone. “We’ll see tests in the next three to five years,” Alexander predicted, “but Europe is one or two years behind the US. The tipping point will take longer.”

Natalie added that current pilots focus on small vehicles – taxis, mini-shuttles, with limited operating zones and lengthy approval processes.

Both see experimentation as essential. Regulations must allow lean pilot schemes while safeguarding privacy and safety. “The challenge is the software, not the vehicle,” Alexander observed, pointing to the complex issues of data protection and licensing that surround partnerships with global tech players.

Beyond the Metropolis: The rural mobility gap

While big cities capture headlines, the conversation repeatedly returned to the countryside. “The mobility transition is well underway in the metropolises,” Raimund said, “but the real problem is the rural areas.” Here, the needs are stark: door-to-door service, reliable connections, price security.

Alexander described a vision of ÖPNV-Taxis in the commuter belt around Hamburg – vehicles that pick people up at home and deliver them to the nearest S-Bahn station. “We’ll probably have to subsidise these services,” he admitted, but with the right partnerships, existing fleets could be repurposed to close critical gaps.

Model regions such as Schleswig-Holstein are already testing bundled procurement and flexible on-demand services. Yet funding remains fragile, especially as municipalities struggle with post-pandemic budgets and the cost pressures of the Deutschlandticket.

The human interface: trust, safety, and feedback

Technology cannot succeed without trust. Natalie emphasised the passenger perspective: “Where do we still have shortcomings? How do we better understand the context? What barriers remain – like accessibility or feelings of insecurity?” Cleanliness, real-time information, and the sense of being safe all shape adoption as much as algorithms or autonomous shuttles.

Data can help, but only if used wisely. Gathering feedback from riders, digitising internal processes, and eventually automating them could create what she called a “much smoother” experience. But in a country where contactless “tap & go” has seen “underwhelming market penetration despite 20 years of funding,” as Raimund wryly noted, behavioural change cannot be taken for granted.

Invisible infrastructure: Regulation and mindset

If software is the challenge, regulation is the invisible infrastructure. Rules determine who can sell tickets, who owns the customer relationship, and how data flows. For Alexander, Germany must avoid over-engineering and “keep trials slim” to maintain momentum. Europe, he warned, risks falling further behind if it clings to rigid frameworks.

All three panellists converged on the need for a cultural shift. “We need a mindset that thinks out of the box,” Natalie urged. Raimund called for “a standard across Germany – nothing over-engineered.” Alexander advocated “less regulation, more optimism, and a joint effort to remove obstacles so things can move faster.”

A call to action

The conversation left little room for doubt: the technology to transform mobility is already here. Autonomous vehicles will arrive, digital platforms will mature, data will flow. The open questions are political and cultural. Will regulators open the market for private-public cooperation? Will cities prioritise seamless user experiences over institutional turf wars? Will citizens embrace new habits when the systems finally become frictionless?

Smart cities are built not only of sensors and code, but of relationships – between private innovators and public authorities, between rural commuters and urban planners, between today’s riders and tomorrow’s autonomous fleets. As this panel made clear, the future of urban mobility will be written as much in town halls and trust-building as in R&D labs.

The road ahead demands what we might call strategic optimism: a willingness to think beyond the immediate, to connect dots across industries and disciplines, and to keep human experience at the centre. The panellists’ closing words serve as a collective manifesto:

• Mindset, said Natalie.
• Standards, added Raimund.
• Regulation and optimism, concluded Alexander.

Change these three levers and the rest will follow. Urban mobility is not just a technical upgrade. It is a social choice. And the time to choose is now.

Picture by Yiran Ding / Unsplash.