MaaS Concept Research Articles

A mobility pilot development process experimented through a MaaS pilot in Budapest

Recently, several new concepts and innovative technologies have emerged to overcome the problems of urbanization, which can be hardly solved with using exclusively private vehicles or conventional public transport services. One of the new solutions is the Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) concept, a user-centric mobility distribution scheme, in which the user needs are satisfied via a single platform, and multiple transport options are offered by one MaaS operator (MO). In the last years, a couple of MaaS pilots were performed, but previous papers fail to focus on the pilot development and the proper description of the minimum viable product. A pilot of MaaS in Budapest has been developed by using the innovative Scrum methodology successfully involving six mobility service providers, such as public transport, shared mobility, and taxi, in the live demonstration. Current article provides detailed information about the pilot development including technical, legal, and business use cases for all service providers. The results of the recruitment and the characterization of the early-bird users are presented, too. The iterative pilot development process can be utilized by those MOs and governmental organizations that would like to initiate a new mobility project based on the MaaS concept.

DEVELOPMENT OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN RURAL AREAS IN POLAND: THE EXAMPLE OF THE SLUPSK DISTRICT

The paper addresses the development of public transport (PT) in rural areas in the context of the implementation of the Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) concept. This paper aimed to indicate whether and how rural areas can use the MaaS concept to develop PT and improve transport accessibility. The financing model for the operation of collective PT in the example of Poland was analysed. The case study Pomeranian Voivodeship was selected due to the strong influence of the Tri-City agglomeration, which does not directly include western parts of the region such as Słupsk County. Several research methods were used: desktop research, case study and GIS analysis. The results highlight that the MaaS concept has the potential to be implemented in rural areas; however, this will be a long-term process and will require advanced cooperation between local authorities, private operators and service providers. This process is dependent on measures being taken to support the use of MaaS at a national level. From the inhabitants' perspective, such changes are a positive direction for PT.

Exploiting Extended Reality under the Manufacturing as a Service paradigm

The advent of new technologies and concepts such as Extended Reality (XR), Cloud Manufacturing, Digital Twin, Industrial Internet of Things is completely changing the manufacturing landscape. Innovative digital tools are available to increase the competitiveness and efficiency of companies. The XR can support the Smart Operator in production, maintenance and training activities. Similarly, Manufacturing as a Service, which is a variation of Cloud Manufacturing, can make corporate architectural systems more flexible and scalable. In this paper, some preliminary results relating to the European 5G-ERA project and the synergistic work that the companies CAL-TEK, TWI and HAL Robotics are conducting is shown. An XR-oriented architecture is proposed, whose usefulness is emphasized by the use of the MaaS concept, and the implementation of a Mixed Reality application is shown, to support an on-site operator. Future developments concern the implementation of a Virtual Reality application for the off-site operator, and the use of the 5G-ERA middleware to exploit the potential of the MaaS paradigm.

MaaS (Mobility as a Service) market futures explored

The term Mobility as a Service (MaaS) refers to a seamless, single interface, fully integrated and customised transport service. Whilst the technological barriers to implementing MaaS are steadily being overcome, less is known about how the MaaS eco-system might evolve. This paper unpicks the MaaS concept in light of broader societal trends to suggest how it could evolve and offers insights for practitioners and policy makers. The paper draws on relevant literature, together with discussions with stakeholders, to better understand how MaaS has emerged. It then constructs four future MaaS market scenarios and identifies implications. It is concluded that current expectations of how the MaaS concept may evolve are limited in their understanding of how the transport system could change should MaaS be adopted on a wide scale. The major challenges for policy makers will likely relate to balancing the promised benefits offered with issues such as safety (including bio-safety in our post Covid-19 world), data security and privacy, equity and the threat of dominant suppliers distorting the marketplace. Together, these insights suggest that the MaaS reality may be messy and difficult to manage, and that future transport systems might look very different to now.

The MaaS concept in the field as of 2021: Typology of implementations based on an international panorama

MaaS (Mobility as a Service) is a recent concept embodying the integration of different transport modes and services via a single user interface which unifies one or several out of the following commercial functions: planning, booking, payment, and ticketing. This article seeks to develop a framework for MaaS analysis and present a panorama of MaaS initiatives in the Northern hemisphere as of 2021, in order to understand the practical meaning behind the MaaS concept. The analysis framework is based on a literature review of previous MaaS definitions and involves seven facets. The panorama of initiatives contains 30 implementations, of which 17 are out of Europe – from North America to Eastern Asia. From the characterization of the different initiatives, by conducting a cluster analysis, we derive a novel typology of MaaS initiatives in 6 categories.

Reasons of university students' susceptibility to intelligent mobility and the use of mobility-as-a-service schemes

The transition from the current transportation system to intelligent mobility and the MaaS concept, through the introduction of Big Data analytics and digital innovation, is underway. Perceptions, attitudes and other internal factors often have a significant impact on the choice of human behavior in transportation. This paper discussed the characteristics of vehicle choice by type and depending on the goal of the trip. Private car drivers noted that they choose a car mainly because of accessibility, flexibility of use, safety and comfort. For public transportation passengers, safety and cost of travel were determining factors in their choice of public transportation. The main differences between trips with different goals were found for the indicators "time of a trip", "company trip", and "prestige". The results show that there is a positive perception of intellectual mobility among student youth, a tendency to switch from owning vehicles to other ways of using them and participating in MaaS schemes. It can be concluded that MaaS is positively perceived by the young generation of students. Based on the data obtained, proposals for the directions of sustainable development of urban public transport are made.

Digital platform solutions of Russian Railways as a tool for the development of the concept of MaaS (Mobility as a Service)

The purpose of the study: to substantiate the advantages of the Maas (Mobility as a Service) concept as a universal digital Smart aggregator, a platform integrating all participants in passenger transportation. Methods: content analysis, analysis of digital platform technologies, monitoring of digital processes and solutions at the level of a separate transport company. Results: the main advantages of digital transport multimodality as a concept of integrated digital platforms of the future transport are substantiated. The hypothesis is put forward that electronic digitalized communication technologies of market participants will become the main factor of economic growth. And the ideal MaaS-economic model will be a comprehensive integration of all existing digital platforms in the world and on national markets. The functionality and advantages for users of the development of MaaS solutions of the Russian railway carrier - the Russian Railways company — the Travel.RZD application and a pilot project within the framework of Innovative mobility implemented in the Samara region are presented.

MAAS-MOBILITY AS A SERVICE. DEVELOPMENT PROSPECTS

In this article, the authors consider the main provisions of the MaaS concept – mobility as a service. This is a type of service that, through a shared digital channel, allows users to plan, book and pay for various types of mobility services.
 Purpose – the conditions for the introduction and implementation of the MaaS concept in modern cities are analyzed.
 Methodology: the article used statistical analysis, synthesis.
 Results: the factors that increase the effectiveness of the proposed concept and the possibility of its implementation in specific conditions are identified.
 Practical implications: research activity on the development of new approaches in the field of organization of transportation and transport services.

Barriers to the adoption of the mobility-as-a-service concept: The case of Istanbul, a large emerging metropolis

Megatrends such as urbanization, digitalization, and decarbonization have created the necessity for new and creative approaches to the urban transportation system. As a solution to the problems of the increasingly digitalized urban transportation environment, “Mobility-as-a-Service” (MaaS) was proposed as a new sustainable transportation concept in Helsinki in 2014. With the use of the MaaS concept, residents of a large emerging metropolis, such as Istanbul, Turkey, can be offered a fast, efficient, environment-friendly, and inexpensive way of travel. However, despite the significant benefits of MaaS, there are several factors that can hinder the adoption of MaaS. This paper aims to analyze these barriers and their contextual relationships with each other using Total Interpretive Structural Modeling (TISM) and Matrix-based-Multiplication-Applied-to-a-Classification (MICMAC) methods. The case study has been conducted on an expert group to explore which significant barriers might be encountered during the adoption of a MaaS system in Istanbul. This study also addresses how these barriers should be overcome, and the MaaS concept should be adopted in Istanbul. The results showed that the most significant barrier to adopting the MaaS concept in Istanbul are Laws, Regulations, and Guidelines that primarily include the legal nature of this mobility service. The least important barriers are found to be Customer Acceptance and Labor Shortage. Therefore, the case study results provided a unique perspective for emerging countries in terms of barriers to successful MaaS implementations and revealed significant differences from the developed countries.

Sustainable Mobility as a Service: Demand Analysis and Case Studies

Urban mobility is evolving today towards the concept of Mobility as a Service (MaaS). MaaS allows passengers to use different transport services as a single option, by using a digital platform. Therefore, according to the MaaS concept, the mobility needs of passengers are the central element of the transport service. The objective of this paper is to build an updated state-of-the-art of the main disaggregated and aggregated variables connected to travel demand in presence of MaaS. According to the above objective, this paper deals with methods and case studies to analyze passengers’ behaviour in the presence of MaaS. The methods described rely on the Transportation System Models (TSMs), in particular with the travel demand modelling component. The travel demand may be estimated by means of disaggregated, or sample, surveys (e.g., individual choices) and of aggregate surveys (e.g., characteristics of the area, traffic flows). The surveys are generally supported by Information Communication System (ICT) tools, such as: smartphones; smartcards; Global Position Systems (GPS); points of interest. The analysis of case studies allows to aggregate the existing scientific literature according to some criteria: the choice dimension of users (e.g., mode, bundle and path, or a combination of them); the characteristics of the survey (e.g., revealed preferences or stated preferences); the presence of behavioural theoretical background and of calibrated choice model(s).

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) as a Sustainability Concept for Tourist Destinations

In order to meet the needs and requirements of visitors in tourist destinations related to modes of transport, the offer in tourist destinations must satisfy travel habits. The introduction of the MaaS (Mobility as a Service) concept is reflected in the reduction of dependence on private cars. The main objectives of this paper are (1) to explore the MaaS concept, awareness about the concept, its importance and benefits in general and related to tourism in the Republic of Croatia; and (2) to explore the connection between a multimodal mindset about mobility concepts on the very concept of MaaS under the influence of satisfaction using mobility-related applications in tourism. The results of the research confirm a statistically significant relationship between a multimodal mindset (way of thinking) and the MaaS service in the function of tourism, and that relationship is mediated by the satisfaction with the use of mobility-related applications, but also the lack of awareness about the concept itself.

Mobility as a Service and urban infrastructure: From concept to practice

The debate about how Mobility as a Service (MaaS) will revolutionize individual and collective mobility is gaining increasing attention from researchers, industries, and public sectors. MaaS is expected to create a techno-utopia with a new organization and operation of transport systems where residents have equal access to instant and ubiquitous mobility services. However, transport service is an artifact that is highly dependent on the construction of urban infrastructure. The success of MaaS requires the support of urban infrastructure that we categorize as (1) transport-flow infrastructure, (2) information-flow infrastructure, and (3) computing-flow infrastructure. The connotation of urban infrastructure here includes not only conventional concepts, such as transportation infrastructure, but also intelligent transportation concepts, such as high-speed communication networks and autonomous fleets. Moreover, travel behavior data collected by city sensors, communication networks, and intelligent vehicles require appropriate infrastructures to dynamically compute for fleet dispatch and demand-supply match. Based on the degree of integration of these infrastructures, MaaS projects will have different results in varying cities. From concept to practice, given that a vast disparity in infrastructure exists between cities, we need an inclusive, mobile, and global understanding of the MaaS concept to make it successful in different parts of the world.

Review of Whole System Simulation Methodologies for Assessing Mobility as a Service (MaaS) as an Enabler for Sustainable Urban Mobility

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is an emerging concept that is being advanced as an effective approach to improve the sustainability of mobility, especially in densely populated urban areas. MaaS can be defined as the integration of various transport modes into a single service, accessible on demand, via a seamless digital planning and payment application. Recent studies have shown the potential reduction in the size of automobile fleets, with corresponding predicted improvements in congestion and environmental impact, that might be realized by the advent of automated vehicles as part of future MaaS systems. However, the limiting assumptions made by these studies point to the difficult challenge of predicting how the complex interactions of user demographics and mode choice, vehicle automation, and governance models will impact sustainable mobility. The work documented in this paper focused on identifying available methodologies for assessing the sustainability impact of potential MaaS implementations from a whole system (STEEP—social, technical, economic, environmental, and political) perspective. In this research, a review was conducted of current simulation tools and models, relative to their ability to support transportation planners, to assess the MaaS concept, holistically, at a city level. The results presented include: a summary of the literature review, a weighted ranking of relevant transportation simulation tools per the assessment criteria, and identification of key gaps in the current state of the art. The gaps include capturing the interaction of demographic changes, mode choice, induced demand, and land use in a single framework that can rapidly explore the impact of alternative MaaS scenarios, on sustainable mobility, for a given city region. These gaps will guide future assessment methodologies for urban mobility systems, and ultimately assist informed decision-making.

A cross-country comparison of user experience of public autonomous transport

Autonomous solutions for transportation are emerging worldwide, and one of the sectors that will benefit the most from these solutions is the public transport by shifting toward the new paradigm of Mobility as a Service (MaaS). Densely populated areas cannot afford an increase in individual transportation due to space limitation, congestion, and pollution.Working towards more effective and inclusive mobility in public areas, this paper compares user experiences of autonomous public transport across Baltic countries, with the final goal of gaining an increased insight into public needs. User experience was evaluated through questionnaires gathered along pilot projects implementing a public transportation line, using an automated electric minibus between 2018 and 2019. To have sufficient diversity in the data, the pilot projects were implemented in several cities in the Baltic Sea Area. The data analysed in this paper specifically refer to the cities of Helsinki (Finland), Tallinn (Estonia), Kongsberg (Norway), and Gdańsk (Poland).Across all cities, passengers provided remarkably positive feedback regarding personal security and safety onboard. The overall feedback, which was very positive in general, showed statistically significant differences across the groups of cities (Kongsberg, Helsinki, Tallinn and Gdansk), partially explicable by the differences in the route design. In addition, across all cities and feedback topics, males gave a lower score compared to females. The overall rating suggests that there is a demand for future last-mile automated services that could be integrated with the MaaS concept, although demand changes according to socio-economic and location-based conditions across different countries.

Exploring Individual Preferences and Willingness to Pay for Mobility as a Service

This paper discusses demand and willingness to pay for mobility as a service (MaaS) plans. Given the rising popularity of the MaaS concept, research exploring preferences and demand for such services is valuable to researchers and policy makers as well as other involved stakeholders and mobility operators. This research investigates individual preferences for MaaS utilizing data collected via questionnaire surveys from Greater Manchester, United Kingdom. The surveys collected socio-demographic data and data in relation to individuals’ attitudes and typical mode use patterns, while stated preference data were also obtained by designing menu-based stated preference experiments where the respondents were able to create their ideal MaaS plan. A hybrid choice model is developed to explore user choices toward MaaS, while distributed willingness to pay values are estimated. A latent variable that captures the latent predisposition of people toward using multiple modes of transport is constructed. The results indicate that individuals who are more prone to using multimodal mobility options are willing to pay more for being offered both traditional and emerging mobility services as part of a monthly MaaS plan. Considering that the implementation of MaaS is still at an immature phase, while research efforts in relation to the demand for MaaS are limited, the results of this paper provide significant insights into individuals’ preferences toward MaaS and the heterogeneity between different user segments, and could be exploited to formulate valuable plans and contribute to the successful implementation of MaaS.

A study on users' willingness to accept mobility as a service based on UTAUT model

ABSTRACT MaaS has received highly anticipated from the field of transportation theory and practice in recent years. Many Chinese cities have also proposed plans to build MaaS systems and have begun to implement them. As a new type of travel service paradigm, user recognition, acceptance, and continued use are prerequisites for the survival and development of MaaS. Therefore, accurately identifying the key variables that affect user acceptance and grasping the user's requirements are important support to ensure the MaaS has been applying successfully. Based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use Technology model (UTAUT), this study establishes an analysis framework of MaaS acceptance and intention. A small town with a very common use of cars in the suburbs of Shanghai was selected as the survey object, and the potential uses and requirements of MaaS for 314 households and 600 residents were collected. This study proposes five important strategies for the promotion and application of MaaS: 1. Strengthen publicity and promote the MaaS concept to be more easily understood and accepted. 2. Improve convenience in the manual and avoid cumbersome operations; 3. Grasp the users’ curiosity and the early adopters, and cultivate the approved user base. 4. Focus on improving user experience, maintaining MaaS reputation, rewarding users for sharing register invitations. 5. Strengthening the protection of user information and service stability of MaaS guarantee to eliminate user concerns. At the same time, different services can be launched for different groups. Such as providing customized MaaS travel packages for middle-aged, elderly people and minors; making more detailed tutorials for people without membership experience, inviting free experiences, etc.

Collaborative Platforms and Data Pools for Smart Urban Societies and Mobility as a Service (MaaS) from a Competition Law Perspective

In the Smart Urban society all devices and service providers will monitor, collect data and exchange data, whilst the device producers and service providers will store, distribute, analyse and re-use data on a grand scale. If firms would like to combine data, they need to give each other access either by sharing, trading, or pooling the data. On the one hand, industry-wide pooling of data could increase efficiency of certain services, and contribute to the innovation of other services, e.g., think about self-driven cars or even creating whole networks for transport available on one platform, i.e. Mobility as a Service (MaaS). On the other hand, firms combining business data may use the data, not to advance their services or products, but to collude, to exclude competitors or to abuse their market position. Indeed, by combining their data and collaborate they can gain market power, and, hence, the ability to violate competition law. We also see platforms hoarding data and designing the data architecture so to become system leaders in vertical value chains, exclusively obtain all data from various sources creating a silo or ecosystem. This paper will discuss a new platform configuration being developed regarding transport services. The new idea for a transport platform is being developed and discussed under the notion of MaaS. MaaS is a new transport paradigm that integrates existing and new mobility services, public and private transport services such as subway and e-scooters, into one single digital platform, providing customised door-to-door transport and offering personalised trip planning and payment options. The development of integrated multimodal information systems and integrated payment solutions have enabled the unfolding of the MaaS concept. We will analyse the MaaS concept from a competition law perspective, and whether the concept might be in violation of EU Competition Law, specifically Articles 101 and 102 TFEU, respectively.

Children, Young people and Mobility as a Service: Opportunities and barriers for future mobility

The following paper examines the needs and perceptions of children and young people (age 8–18) towards Mobility as a Service (MaaS). MaaS offers a new paradigm in the access, planning and pricing of travel. To date, however, young people's views and needs have not been explicitly considered within this context. This is despite more general transport work demonstrating that young people have specific needs and perceptions that could influence their use of MaaS now, and their ongoing perceptions of MaaS across their life. Views of young people towards the MaaS concept were captured through workshops using Lego™. Thematic analysis identified specific considerations for young people's perceptions of MaaS around the experience of travel, travel choices, technology, safety, and status and identity. These results include barriers to acceptance and adoption of MaaS, but also reservations regarding the underpinning transport services. These results also demonstrate the importance of recognising young people as active agents in the use of transport rather than passive users, while sharing many of the concerns of adult users. Young people have a rich and complex voice that needs to be considered in the context of a digitalised 21st century transport service provision and understand young people as having agency around their travel choices. As such this paper fills a critical research gap in the MaaS literature.

Creation of mobility packages based on the MaaS concept

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is a solution that combines a number of services and provides a platform, where multimodal journey planning, booking, payment and ticketing are integrated. Current MaaS solutions provide pay-as-you-go options or predefined mobility packages, however research and development in this field are still far from a mature concept. This paper deals with the creation of mobility packages for users, taking into account several city specific parameters (e.g. demography, cost of living, modal split, weather conditions, environmental friendliness). A method has been elaborated, which assigns package levels to cities involving different transportation modes, such as public transport, bike-sharing, car-sharing and taxi. During the analysis 15 cities in Europe have been considered and based on their specific parameters the most suitable mobility packages were created for them.

The MaaS system and its problems

Essence of conception «Mobility-as-a-Service» (MaaS) is to place an user in the center of transport services and offer to him the personalized method of movement taking into account individual necessities. MaaS integrates the various methods of movement the different types of transport in single service that is accessible on demand. Service comes true through a single account with monthly payment. One of the main conditions for the successful operation of MaaS is the ability of smartphones to access different modes of transport. For the first time, the MaaS concept was implemented in the Swedish city of Gothenburg, offering excellent public transport conditions and sustainable urban mobility. The aim of a transport politics is support of a transport system that provides the movement of passengers and commodities. MaaS is examined as an increase of comfort of journeys and development of the system of safe and reliable transport. The most famous MaaS system was due to Helsinki, where they were able to offer a convenient and competitive platform. Since public transport is the core of the MaaS system, the city must offer quality public transport services so that users can easily move around the city without having their own car.The following conditions are required for the implementation of the MaaS system: different types of urban public transport; most transport operators open their data, including real-time data, to third parties; most transport operators allow third parties to sell their services; most transport operators support an electronic payment system to access their services. In spite of different business models, successful projects of introduction and positive reviews of users about the pilot schemes of MaaS, there is a row of global questions about further applicability and development of the system, requiring decisions : touching the openness of these ferrymen, users; about the scale of the use of the system MaaS; single user ID, single informative space; payments of passage of the different systems of transport from one application; competitions with existent providers; to the peculiar.