An Exploration of Some of the Benefits of Mobility as a Service (MaaS)
Article originally published by Chad Duggan via LinkedIn on 06/03/2019.
As you can imagine, there are many great benefits to Mobility as a Service (MaaS) being implemented into modern transport networks. The move away from private and individual ownership of vehicles to an intelligent and convenient usage of alternative modes of transport, brings about many positives. Many of these benefits align themselves nicely with several key strategies of the current UK Government around transport, public health, and the environment (e.g. the Road to Zero Strategy). This particular strategy acknowledges the serious need for transformation within the transport landscape, in order to drastically reduce the levels of emissions from petrol or diesel fuelled vehicles on the congested roads of the UK.
A move away from the private ownership of vehicles brings:
- Decreased congestion on urban roads.
- Fewer costly road asset maintenance activities required in the long-term, after the initial infrastructure updates have taken place.
- Less time spent, and ultimately lost, by people in transit.
- Fewer accidents on the roads, meaning a reduction in road collision injuries and fatalities.
- Lower insurance premiums due to the above.
- Improved air quality from a reduction in CO2 and NO2 emissions.
- Reduced need for parking space, meaning more space is freed-up in cities and towns for alternative use. Perhaps the extra space could be used for something capable of attracting potential visitors, which would in-turn benefit the local economy.
- Optimised occupancy of vehicles with shared mobility (e.g. car-pooling schemes) – fewer grossly inefficient one-person-one-car scenarios which we see so much of today.
Implementation of MaaS brings:
- Plenty of opportunities for innovative SMEs to make an impact on the large transportation market.
- Increased uptake of healthier transport options such as walking and cycling, bringing better fitness and quality of life to citizens.
- Improved passenger travel experience – users being offered optimised journeys for their individual needs, alongside simplified ticketing and payment procedures.
- Improved customer choice – facilitating better access to alternative modes of transport and routes, empowering users to make more informed choices.
- Increased productivity as people are less likely to be slowed down by a congested network – mobility is the very lifeblood of any economy.
- Faster movement of goods across the network.
- Better management of travel demand and transport infrastructure – transport planners can optimise use of existing transport networks and better plan for future enhancements/maintenance, by using MaaS user-data to inform their work.
- Replacement of complex public transport ticketing schemes (concessions, discounts, travel cards, zones), which are often a source of frustration and confusion for network users.
