During the Global Launch of the Transport Data Commons held in Glasgow last February 23-24, 2026, the Asian Transport Observatory (ATO) shared the lessons learnt and the journey it has taken in pursuit of strengthening the knowledge base of transport in Asia and the Pacific.

Alvin Mejia, Co-Team Lead of the ATO, delivered a presentation on "Transport Data Perspectives" as part of a lighting talks session during the event. He shared that while much has been achieved in terms of consolidating transport datasets in the region, the main challenge is with data perceived as "just being data," numbers that are being generated and collected, for the purposes of compliance with requirements. Data needs to be integrated into relevant processes for data to "BE" data.

The Transport Data Commons (TDC) is a coalition of currently more than 30 leading organizations in transport working together to create a shared, public, accessible, and frequently updated database for the transportation sector. As an output of the said event, the Glasgow Declaration on the Transport Data Commons (TDC), a voluntary declaration which commits signatories to advancing open, high-quality transport data as a global public good, was crafted. The workshop was organized by the University of Strathclyde, and supported by the Climate Compatible Growth (CCG) Agile Fund.

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