AI Observatory
Controlling mobility public-service contracts
An independent editorial initiative that gives a voice to mobility authorities on how artificial intelligence is reshaping the oversight of regional rail and urban public-service contracts.
Why this Observatory
A historic opening of rail to competition
The European Fourth Railway Package requires every French Région to put its TER regional rail contracts out to competition. Centre-Val de Loire, Sud, Hauts-de-France, Pays de la Loire, Grand Est and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté have already started. Each Région follows its own path — full tendering, progressive lot allocation, renewed demanding partnership — but they all face the same requirement: applying the conditions of their public-service contracts in a neutral and equitable way, even though the operator may change mid-cycle and several operators may now share the same network.
A data asymmetry that becomes strategic
Operators have ever more powerful AI tools to optimise their operations. Transport authorities, by contrast, still depend largely on the operator’s self-declared reporting to assess service quality. On contracts worth hundreds of millions of euros a year, this asymmetry can become the central issue.
A subject rarely tackled from the buyer’s point of view
Publishers and consulting firms produce a great deal about AI in mobility, almost always from the perspective of the proposed solution. This Observatory takes the opposite angle: it listens to those who commission and oversee these contracts, on their actual practices, their stated needs and their honest questions. In their own words.
Method
A calibrated interview programme
Fifteen to twenty contributors
Regional Vice-Presidents for Mobility, Mobility Directors of transport authorities, General Managers of intermodal joint authorities, data leads of public platforms.
30-minute interviews
Held remotely or in person, structured around five axes: status quo, AI in practice, relationship with the delegate, needs, outlook.
Shared analytical grid
A systematic framework makes it possible to compare each authority’s approach axis by axis.
Three editorial guarantees
The editorial process rests on three principles
- 1. Validation before publication. Each interview synthesis is sent to the contributor in advance, with a comfortable review window. No contribution is published without explicit approval.
- 2. Citation mode chosen by the contributor. Three options are offered: named (with role), anonymous ("a Deputy Director General for Mobility of a large Région"), or off the record (the contribution feeds the overall analysis without direct citation).
- 3. Editorial / commercial separation. Markellia separately runs a support activity (AI-powered client-side advisory, data platform) for mobility authorities. No commercial mention is made during the Observatory or in the publication. Any operational topic that emerges after publication is handled separately, at the request of the authority concerned.
Calendar
April 2026
Launch of the interview campaign
End of July 2026
Collection closes
September 2026
Private debrief to contributors
Autumn 2026
Public release
Who runs this Observatory
Markellia
Markellia develops an independent platform for managing mobility data, dedicated to transport authorities. It enables them to take control of their contractual data on European sovereign hosting. Founded by Arnaud Lutellier (former data leader at SNCF Gares & Connexions), Markellia is incubated at Station F within the Ville de Demain incubator.
Ville de Demain × Station F
Ville de Demain is Station F’s urban innovation programme. It brings together the public and private actors who imagine and build tomorrow’s cities and territories, and regularly publishes reference work, including:
- The Data Center Guide, dedicated to sustainable, acceptable digital infrastructure for territories.
- The partnership with the French State Real Estate Department, which explores innovation applied to tomorrow’s public real estate.
This Observatory builds on that lineage of work.
Contribute or find out more
Are you a decision-maker within a mobility authority who would like to contribute to the Observatory? Do you represent an authority we have not yet contacted and feel your perspective is missing from the picture? Are you a journalist or researcher working on related topics?
Frequently asked questions
Why is Markellia, a commercial actor, running an Observatory?▼
Because no one else was, and because the topic (information asymmetry between mobility authorities and operators) sits at the heart of the Markellia team’s expertise, drawn from SNCF data leadership roles. Running this Observatory with Ville de Demain at Station F lets us anchor the work in a recognised editorial framework and publicly guarantee the separation from Markellia’s commercial activity.
What happens if I take part but do not want to be cited?▼
You choose your citation mode when reviewing the synthesis: named, anonymous ("a senior executive of a French mobility authority"), or off the record (your contribution feeds the overall analysis but is not surfaced). No contribution is published without your explicit prior approval.
What does the Observatory concretely produce in the end?▼
A digital publication of around forty pages, freely downloadable, organised around the five interview axes and illustrated with quotations from contributors. A private debrief is delivered to contributors beforehand.
AI Observatory × controlling mobility public-service contracts
A Markellia × Ville de Demain de Station F project · 2026
The Observatory is an independent editorial initiative with no commercial intent. No contributor will be contacted commercially as part of it.