Empower or Thwart? Insights from Vienna and Helsinki regarding the role of public authorities in the development of MaaS schemes

Abstract

Abstract Recent advances in information and communication technologies have paved the way for the development of new transport solutions that have the potential to revolutionise mobility. At the forefront of those developments, the concept of Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) has triggered a lot of interest in the transport community, given its capacity to help break away from the dependency on private cars and to potentially enable a transition towards more sustainable transport systems. It is commonly agreed that a successful unfolding of the MaaS concept calls for the development of new governance structures, and new governing approaches from public authorities. Therefore, this paper seeks to understand how public authorities are governing the development of MaaS schemes. Using a conceptual framework that builds on governance and sustainability transitions literatures, we do this by analysing two case studies of early MaaS schemes development in Helsinki and Vienna. The article concludes by highlighting the importance of having national and local governments influence national railway companies and public transport authorities so that they shift from a ‘governing by doing’ and laissez-faire approach to a ‘governing by enabling’ approach, in order for MaaS to really move forward and grow from the niche into the regime layer. Ultimately, this paper aims to shed light on the processes supporting the birth of MaaS schemes, and contributes to using governance and transition literatures in the study of smart transportation systems development.