The path dependencies make it difficult to change paths because they create obstacles along different dimensions. In specific, the following path dependencies have emerged with regard to urban mobility.

• Technology & Infrastructure: The car with internal combustion engine is the dominant technology shaping urban mobility today. The technology has given rise to corresponding infrastructure such as gas stations, streets and parking lots which are difficult to remove, costly, and have strongly influenced urban planning and development.
• Economy: The automobile industry and its supply chain developed around the combustion engine technology and have since grown into powerful economic actors, which form a substantial part of the German economy. 
• Politics: Regulators are reluctant to disrupt the auto industry (e.g. ban cars with internal combustion engines from inner cities) because disrupting the auto industry can have negative effect on employment and economic growth. 
• Behaviour: The car has created a user behavior that prefers individualized transport. People have developed attachment to the car as a personal space that they do not want to give up. In addition, the car is still an important part of German identity even though this identification is declining among certain demographic segments.
• Discourse: People have grown accustomed to being able to cover 500-1000 km with a car and now take these distances for granted.