Launched in January 2025 and supported by EIT Urban Mobility, the GreenMob project is led by the research hub CARNET, in collaboration with partners such as Instant System, WeCity, and Start Romagna. The goal? To enable seamless access to urban transport while empowering people to make low-carbon choices through better information. GreenMob isn’t building a new transport service - it’s building a better experience of using the ones we already have. Piloted in Cesena (Italy), Viladecans (Spain), and Debrecen (Hungary), the app offers a unified interface for route planning, schedules, fares, and real-time updates across all transport modes.
But what makes GreenMob different is what happens under the hood:
At the core of the platform is the Wecity API, a smart tool that calculates and verifies CO₂ emissions for both planned and completed trips. Certified under ISO14064-II,the API enables users to see the environmental impact of their travel choices -with real-world precision. In “Planned Trip” mode, the system analyses intended journeys - think of the steps a user inputs into a journey planner - and calculates estimated emissions based on transport type, area density, day of the week, and even national travel patterns. In “Actual Trip” mode, it goes a step further: using GPS and motion sensors on your phone, it identifies how you actually moved and computes the real emissions from your trip.
This allows for a direct comparison between what you planned and what you did - unlocking powerful insights and, eventually, potential reward systems based on real-life sustainable behavior.
From data to behavior change
This design isn’t about pushing or preaching, it’s about enabling. Instead of gamifying the experience with points or badges, GreenMob provides transparent comparisons: time, cost, and emissions, all in one place. That small shift could lead to a big change in how people choose toget around. Imagine opening your travel app and immediately seeing that biking cuts your emissions by 80%, costs next to nothing, and takes only five minutes longer than driving. When the choice becomes this intuitive, sustainability stops feeling like a sacrifice.
Over Easter, I found myself in Paris. Living in London, my boyfriend is a loyal fan of Uber, Lime, Santander bikes, and all things TfL. Living in a smaller German city , I usually walk most places. I hate having to download a new app for every new city, so i stick to the uber app for the occasional late-night, safe trip home, regardless of where i am.
Inspired by the classic biking-along-the-Seine scene, we considered renting a bike. There was no shortage of options - but what caught our eye were a couple of Lime bikes with Uber stickers on their splash covers. We gave it a go. It was effortless. No setup drama, no weird tariffs,no extra app. Just scan a code - and on y va! It felt spontaneous, local, and, dare I say, extremely fun.
It’s exactly that kind of frictionless experience that GreenMob aims to deliver more consistently - and even more comprehensively. And it got me thinking: what if GreenMob didn’t just show fares across different transport modes but also enabled one-click payment for everything? Imagine paying for your bus ride, bike rental, or shared car - all from the same app. No switching between platforms, no juggling different payment methods. Just one platform for everything. Such an expansion would be a game-changer - simplifying the entire travel process while further reducing reliance on private cars. And it aligns perfectly with GreenMob’s mission: to make sustainable travel not just the easiest choice, but the most intuitive one.
So, is GreenMob the One App to Move Them All? Maybenot yet, but it’s definitely on the right track. By weaving together mobility services and environmental insight, it’s setting the stage for a city experience that’s not just more connected, but more conscious. If the future of travel really is about making smarter choices without sacrificing spontaneity, then GreenMob might just be the secret ingredient. The data from the pilot cities is still being evaluated, but here’s hoping we’ll all be able to download and use the app soon - or at least pretend to. Either way, your phone deserves better than twelve dusty transport apps. Fingers crossed we can try GreenMob (maybe with even more features) for ourselves soon, and finally delete that weird scooter app we downloaded in 2019… you know, the one that only works in Rome.
Photo Copyright: Freepik AI Generated & CARNET Future Mobility Research Hub
