SUMP Guidelines Third Edition

The third edition of the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) Guidelines has been officially published, marking a significant milestone in the evolution of urban mobility planning across Europe.

A SUMP is a strategic framework that addresses the mobility needs of urban communities and businesses, aiming to improve the quality of life. It has gained broad recognition in the past decade. Based on established planning practices, SUMPs prioritise integration, participation, and evaluation to deliver inclusive and effective mobility solutions. Endorsed by the European Commission, SUMPs help cities of all sizes tackle critical challenges such as congestion, pollution, climate change, road safety, and parking, while promoting innovation and the adoption of new mobility services.

The SUMP Guidelines (third edition) serve as a comprehensive resource, providing cities with expert guidance on the development and implementation of their SUMPs.

This third edition, for which development started in 2023, aligns with the evolving landscape of European Policy, emerging mobility trends, and practitioners’ needs, reflecting key strategic frameworks, such as the European Green Deal, the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy and the New EU Urban Mobility Framework. Notably, the revised TEN-T Regulation now requires 431 urban nodes across Europe to adopt a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan by 2027, further strengthening the role of SUMP in transport planning. 

It was developed in close alignment with feedback from mobility practitioners, ensuring that the updated guidance reflects the real needs, challenges, and lessons emerging on the ground. Feedback and lessons learned were collected during exchanges at CIVITAS 2024 and Urban Mobility Days 2025, while several practitioners also directly reviewed or contributed to the new practice examples included in the updated SUMP guidelines.

It introduces several enhancements to further support cities in their SUMP journey. These include refined language and updated links, a stronger emphasis on action-oriented insights, and a more intuitive, user-friendly structure. Regardless of these updates, the SUMP cycle remains unchanged, together with the methodology to align with planning practices and knowledge gained within previous years by practitioners.

At Rupprecht Consult, we are very proud to remain the main editor of the SUMP Guidelines, similarly as for the second edition. We remain the key authors of this third edition of the SUMP Guidelines, developed in close cooperation with the European Commission DG Mobility and Transport as well as partners from the EU Urban Mobility Observatory such as POLIS Network, PANTEIA and TRT - Trasporti e Territorio.

We would especially like to acknowledge the valuable work and dedication of our colleagues Dr. Wolfgang Bakhaus, Dr. Susanne Böhler-Baedeker, Morgane Juliat, Dr. Ralf Brand, Katy Huaylla, Ana-Maria Baston, Bonnie Fenton and Shreesha Vaidhya whose expertise and commitment were instrumental throughout this process. This achievement reflects our collective effort to advance sustainable urban mobility planning and to support cities in developing more effective, inclusive, and forward-looking mobility strategies.

Find the full Third Edition of the SUMP Guideline here: EU Urban Mobility Observatory

Their Annexes are also available here: EU Urban Mobility Observatory