A NAP represents a single national access point for data that can be used to develop new applications for innovative, efficient, and sustainable mobility. The data made available through NAPs are provided by transport authorities and operators and cover a wide range of information related to mobility services, traffic, and road safety. Static mobility data (e.g., public transport timetables) and traffic data are essential for trip planning. Dynamic data, such as delays and disruptions, enable users of mobility services to make informed decisions and save time by better managing their trips.

Metadata (i.e., structured descriptions of data content that facilitate data search and use) are fundamental for making data sharing in NAPs more effective.

NAP metadata can provide information such as the source, the publication date, and the license of a dataset to acquire knowledge about the content of the data and the potential reuse.

Using an incomplete or poor-quality metadata schema limits NAP users’ possibility of having the information they need to find data easily and use them properly.

Although the usefulness of metadata is widely recognized, no common metadata schema is used in different European NAPs. The use of different metadata schemas in different European NAPs limits their potential and the achievement of the goals set by the European Commission related to data sharing. The lack of a common schema introduces the following interoperability issues between NAPs:

• it is not possible to search for data by jointly querying NAPs from different European countries;


• it is more complex to use data retrieved from different NAPs.

The NAPCORE project, co-funded by the European Commission under the Connecting Europe Facility program, was launched in 2021 to improve the interoperability of NAPs and facilitate the exchange of European mobility data. Twenty-six member states, Norway, Switzerland and international organizations are participating in the NAPCORE project to improve interoperability through the adoption of standards and the definition and implementation of common procedures and strategies.

A dedicated working group within the NAPCORE project is working on defining and maintaining a common metadata schema for sharing mobility data. Cefriel is participating in this working group as an implementing body of the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport.

DCAT-AP (DCAT Application Profile) represents an advantageous starting point for defining a common metadata schema in a specific domain, such as mobility. DCAT-AP is a specification based on the Data Catalogue vocabulary (DCAT) and defined by the European Union to harmonize the description of public datasets across Member States. DCAT-AP aims to enable the search of public data by jointly querying different European data portals.

As part of the NAPCORE project, a metadata schema for transport and mobility data portals was defined as an extension of DCAT-AP. The first version of this new specification, called mobilityDCAT-AP, was released on October 16, 2023. The online documentation provides a detailed description of the specification and information on its adoption. In addition, a shared repository has been set up for users to interact with the authors of mobilityDCAT-AP, for example, by raising questions and issues.

The benefits of adopting mobilityDCAT-AP for describing mobility data in European NAPs are multiple:

• shared semantics: the use of a common schema facilitates the comprehension of metadata and associated values and supports the comparison of data from different European NAPs;


• advanced and efficient data search: thanks to the availability of harmonized descriptions, it will be possible to search data by jointly querying different European NAPs;


• more effective data exchange mechanisms: the sharing of clear and comprehensive information related to data accessibility will increase the effectiveness of European NAPs in supporting data exchange to enable the development of new multimodal travel information services;


• proper reuse of data: metadata will provide knowledge of the license for use and other useful information for the proper reuse of data by interested users.

A concrete example of these benefits? The ability to easily obtain data will facilitate the development of applications to offer high-quality digital services to European travellers. Organizers of international events, such as, for example, the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympics and Paralympics, will be able to benefit from this data to define multimodal travel solutions for athletes and participants coming to Italy from all over Europe.

Transport and mobility data available in NAPs can enable the development of innovative and high-quality services that can improve citizens’ mobility, reduce transport costs and environmental impact, and promote the sustainable development of territories. The use of mobilityDCAT-AP is one of the key building blocks to enable this opportunity, facilitate the European strategy on data sharing concretely, and generate value from it for practitioners (authorities and transport operators) and citizens.