Putting users at the centre of MaaS

Rothnie, Anna; Lyons, Glenn; Smith, Annette; Cassidy, Steven

Abstract

The rapid emergence of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) into the transport sector’s lexicon has brought with it an air of expectation that suggests a future mobility revolution. The authors take an action-oriented approach putting MaaS theory into practice. Central to consideration is the user perspective: enabling people to benefit from mobility beyond the private car.

Starting with the theory, the paper examines what is understood to date about MaaS and elaborates upon the contention that MaaS is neither new nor revolutionary but is rather an evolutionary continuation of the pursuit of improved transport integration. The focus of attention is informational integration (rather than the transactional integration that has drawn attention of late in terms of MaaS). It’s fundamental contribution to wider notions of MaaS is emphasised.

The second part of the paper illustrates the methodology and findings from a current project to develop and deliver a Journey Planning Tool (JPT) for the Aberdeen City Region. This case study demonstrates how the theory has been applied along a practical pathway to MaaS delivery. Two critical elements are outlined:

• The importance of engagement with different segments of the population to help ensure user centric MaaS systems are developed with functionality that delivers value to, and is adopted by, prospective users;

• The value, at the heart of MaaS, of a public-private partnership to create a publicly owned asset which delivers local objectives and a sustainable business model.

Finally, the case study of Aberdeen JPT is used to highlight how the present theory surrounding MaaS can be further shaped and developed through experience of its practical application.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: Transport Practitioners Meeting
• Start Date: Sep 2, 2020
• End Date: Sep 3, 2020
• Deposit Date: Sep 18, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 23, 2020
• Keywords: MaaS; Journey Planner; Travel behaviour; User perspective
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/6692590