Reflecting on 2025 and looking ahead to 2026

13 new demonstrations of cycling ITS in 2025

Since the beginning of this year 13 new pilots have reached the demonstration phase in our flagships. This is on top of the five demonstrations already realized in 2024. Another 4 projects are in the implementation phase. A few highlights of the demonstrated pilot projects: 

• In the Province of Antwerp one of the most promising experiments is the Data Fusion pilot, which combines cyclists’ subjective experiences with objective tracking data. The goal? To gain better insights into hazardous spots along the F106 Herentals–Aarschot cycle highway, which will be upgraded to a state-of-the-art route in the coming years. 
• Copenhagen demonstrated the use of Floating Bike Data (FBD) on four cycling corridors. The FBD data will be used as input for another pilot, i.e. defining service goals and management plans for various cycling corridors in Copenhagen.
• Le Havre Seine Métropole has started to collect and analyse cycling speed data across its territory at fixed points. The technology enables not only speed measurement but also the identification of potential e-scooters.
• The Province of Overijssel launched to so-called ‘Da’s zo gefietst!’ cycling app. This was done in cooperation with five other provinces in the Netherlands and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. This app aims to motivate potential or occasional cyclists while gathering essential cycling data to guide future improvements.  
• The City of Hamburg also demonstrated the use of Floating Bike Data, in this case coming from DBRad+. It showed the speed and intensity of cyclists on the different types of infrastructure. This analysis helps evaluate the measures implemented to accelerate cyclists' riding on cycling routes. Furthermore, it enables decision makers to choose the proper infrastructure for the cycling routes. 

The ’Da’s zo gefietst!’ app launched in The Netherlands.

Cycle Data Space

In 2025 good progress has been made in establishing the Cycle Data Space (CDS). First of all steps have been made to create the Cycle Data Space as part of the German Mobility Data Space (MDS). An important reason was to make sure that the Cycle Data Space will continue to exists also after the MegaBITS project ends. The CDS will ensure that:

• Data is securely exchanged between public and private partners.
• Different datasets can be combined for deeper insights.
• Solutions are scalable and adaptable to multiple regions.
• Cities and private stakeholders collaborate efficiently to drive innovation.

The first cycling data have been onboarded in the Cycling Data Space, and more will follow in 2026.

Key events & publications of 2025

In May 2025 MegaBITS, in cooperation with the Meridian project launched the European Roadmap for Smart Cycling. It was presented to DG Move during the ITS European Congress in Sevilla. This was followed by presentations at, among others, the Velocity conference in Gdansk, the European Urban Mobility Days in Vilnius.

Presenting the Smart Cycling Road Map to Eric von Breska, Director of Move.B, and Moumen Hamdouch, Head of Unit Move.B.4.

Next to that, we were very visible through a number of publications:

• POLIS magazine ‘Cities in Motion’
• EU Urban Mobility Observatory’s case study on BITS and MegaBITS
• Interview published in Intertraffic Newsletter
• Contributed to ‘Recommendations for cycling data standardisation’ (by NAPCORE)

Looking ahead to 2026

As we enter the final months of the MegaBITS project, the focus is now on demonstrating the last few pilots, evaluating the running pilots and formulating recommendations for future work. In addition, we are already busy with organizing the International Smart Cycling Conference on 25^th of March 2026 in Enschede (The Netherlands). Participation is free of charge, but registration is required. 

And last but not least we already started to investigate ways to ensure that the legacy of the BITS and MegaBITS projects will find a place in a new project or platform, for example in the Capitalisation Call (call 6) of Interreg North Sea. In 2026 the MegaBITS project comes to an end, but the concept of Smart Cycling is there to stay and will be further developed by other projects and platforms. We will continue to communicate about this through our MegaBITS Smart Cycling community.

Thank you for following our journey over the past years. We hope you’ll continue to join us as we work towards smarter, greener, and more inclusive cycling.

Warm regards, on behalf of the MegaBITS partners,

Wim Dijkstra

Strategic mobility advisor of the province of Overijssel

Ronald Jorna

Project manager of MegaBITS

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