The Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) movement
The MaaS movement can be summarized as a move away from a world dominated by a need to personally own a primary mode of transportation (typically, a car) and towards a world where the traveling public utilizes mobility solutions via a service model.
Although there are varying perspectives on the true purpose and meaning for MaaS, the objective in every case is the same – to join up multi-modal journeys and optimize the capacity usage of all modes.
The Approach
MaaS can be achieved through combining transportation services from public and private mobility providers through a single, unified gateway that creates and manages the trip, all of which is paid for via a single account – we, here at Cubic, term this OneAccount in our NextCity vision.
Although it is common to find MaaS described in subscription terms, this is in fact somewhat limiting, since the policy of how exactly a user pays for their service is likely to vary when considering the effectiveness of the MaaS approach and the local situation from city to city.
Such a OneAccount approach already operates in the field of public transit – London’s Oyster, Chicago’s Ventra, the Bay Area’s Clipper and Sydney’s Opal already enable payment for, and access to, multiple modes of transport (including bus, metro, rail, light rail and ferry in most cases). Extending such access to include all modes of mobility is not only desirable, but logical as a major stepping-stone to MaaS, as well.
The Possibilities
In the MaaS world, it is envisaged that travelers can choose to pay as they go (i.e., paying per trip) or pay a monthly subscription fee to allow travel over a specified distance.
This is no different from the single-journey or monthly-pass approach already deployed in transit systems. However, the means of payment is simply a manifestation of fares policy – there are multiple possibilities of product for how travel can be paid for, and in fact, these are only a factor in the success of the MaaS model.
The Choice
This shift is fueled by a myriad of innovative mobility service providers such as ride-sharing and e-hailing services, bike-sharing programs, and car-sharing services as well as on-demand "pop-up" bus services.
The Customization
MaaS puts the travel needs of the individual at the core of the solution, and the reason it’s growing in appeal is the realization that tailor-made packages can be put together to reflect individual needs.
Let’s sum it up - the potential benefits of MaaS are huge. For starters, MaaS can:
- Reduce congestion (particularly in the instance of autonomous vehicles) and pollution,
- Provide insightful data emanating from multi-modal usage enabling better infrastructure planning, and
- Personalize travel advice for millions of travelers.
Andy Taylor, Director of Strategy, is a global transportation trailblazer with diverse experience ranging from air traffic control to multi-modalism over the last 25 years. He kicked his career off in Europe in a harmonization role for the UK Department for Transport between the Air Traffic Control programs of Europe and the USA, before relocating to Washington DC eight years ago to launch several transportation business lines. Over the last four years at Cubic, Andy has overseen global strategy, focusing on strategic partnerships with some of the world’s leading technology and software companies. In that role, he has spearheaded the Mobility-as-a-Service solution to help cities and transit agencies evaluate the potential benefits of integrated multi-modal transport options. Last year, Andy was awarded the MaaS Ambassador Award, one of three awards presented by the Mobility as a Service (MaaS) Alliance to individuals from member organizations who have significantly contributed to the development of MaaS and the overall alliance; appointed to the MaaS Alliance’s Board of Directors to help promote MaaS initiatives around the world; and shortlisted for the Best Influencer award by the BMaaS Awards hosted by BusinessMaaS.com.
