As a sustainable mobility enthusiast and professional, I've always been excited by data's potential to transform how people move, work, and connect. However, as in other domains, these data are often used instrumentally to convey messages for or against something. A percentage value might be cherry-picked to support or oppose private car use, electric scooters, low-speed zones, autonomous driving, and so on.

It's perfectly normal; I do it myself every day.

That's why, amidst the healthy and lively debate on mobility challenges and future, I felt the need for a reference point where we could regain control over what mobility is today, what it was yesterday, and what it will likely be tomorrow. A place to return to, to reset our perspective and nurture ideas based on reliable and easily accessible information and data.

This is why mobdata.xyz was born: a centralized, minimalist, collaborative data room for curated mobility data.

Anyone can access the data room for free at any time, but more importantly, they can contribute to improving it by suggesting missing datasets, corrections, enhancements, and additions.

Mobdata aims to be a curated exhibit more than a daunting repository. For this reason, it prioritizes the quality, consistency, and ease of interpretation of data over the quantity of datasets present.

As the project curator, I'll take on the responsibility of balancing this trade-off in a way that adheres to the initial vision. The goal is to promote data-based conversations which, I hope, will accelerate progress in a field we're passionate about by fostering a community that can turn insights into practical urban mobility solutions.

Enjoy exploring. Let's move forward.

- Paolo Barbato