This post is an introduction to several subsequent posts on a hot topic, Mobility as a Service (MaaS). It serves organize my thoughts on the matter, and we’ll return to the nerdiness soon.
In the US, the primary form of mobility is the private car. Most other options are controlled by multiple entities and it requires dedication to engage in a trip that connects across modes and providers. Planning a trip across different providers might now be integrated in an app, but being able to pay for that trip easily is still out of reach. In some parts of the world, there are more options, but the bizarre set of factors that result in a travel mode choice are not the result of a rational equation, but a product of both habit and available information.
Enter Mobility as a Service (MaaS). Like other “as a service“ products, the value in the service is not in the monetary cost of the service, but in not needing to worry about the minutiae of setting up and managing the options that the service include.
Imagine rather than having to worry about multiple websites / apps and multiple tickets each with their own restrictions on payment methods, a user pays for a certain amount of travel per month. This might be only a limited transit pass like that offered today. It might be a pass for transit region-wide. It even might include a certain amount of higher priced mobility services like ride-hailing or even airline tickets.
It’s been called “hotels.com for transport.”
When mobility is not essentially tied to a car, a cycle becomes possible. Being able to easily make trips without a car means that more trips will be made without a car. When car-free travel is unlocked as a choice, there are benefits that accrue— less space for roads, fewer deaths, less pollution, etc.
The choices and the options we have we make form a Gordian knot, reinforcing each other, and breaking that knot is what MaaS is about.