This paper provides an overview of the available evidence on the link between the effectiveness of transport systems and economic, social and environmental performance. It starts with a short overview of the main trends in urban transport in section 2, and then covers the costs of the current model of urban development and transport use (Section 3) and the benefits of an alternative model (Section 4). It discusses potential tipping points in transport mobility worldwide (Section 5) and barriers to scaling up positive change (Section 6). It concludes with an overview of international collaborative initiatives on urban transport in Section 7 and with some recommendations for policy-makers in Section 8.