This status paper presents an initial conceptual framework to develop a novel sustainable and electric mobility index to measure progress towards sustainable and low-carbon surface transport and assess the readiness and capacity of cities and countries to achieve a net-zero transition. The proposed index is based on a multi-layered approach, encompassing different sub-indices, capturing the different surface transport modes (rail, inland water, road transport) and types (public, private and informal), and considering the state of data in the target regions. The index aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the transition to low-emission mobility across surface transport modes and enable governments in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), where a limited overview of the capabilities and progress in decarbonising surface transport exists, to identify critical barriers to decarbonising their transport systems.