New mobility services: Taxonomy, innovation and the role of ICTs (original) (raw)
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Drivers and Barriers for Integrated Mobility Services A review of research
As more people move to cities and urban areas are growing, demand for urban transport increases. This leads not only to pressure on sustainability and climate goals, but also on the attractiveness and liveability of urban areas. Thus, it is necessary to decrease the use of private cars and create a modal shift towards more sustainable modes of transport, such as walking, cycling and public transport. In this context, the introduction of Integrated Mobility Services, IMS (or Mobility as a Service, MaaS), is more and more often brought forward as one key driver to enable such a shift. As the term suggests, integrated mobility services integrate a range of mobility services (e.g. public transport, car sharing, bike sharing, taxi etc.) and provides one-stop access to all services through a common interface, hence creating a seamless customer experience. If different transportation modes are combined in a manner that enables multimodal travel and increases vehicle utilisation rates and vehicle occupancy, such services could help cities deal with problems such as urban congestion, transport-related pollution and accessibility. This paper reviews the literature on Integrated Mobility Services with a focus on what previous research says about drivers and barriers for implementing IMS. To structure the results, the review is guided by the analytical framework of the IRIMS project. This framework draws upon institutional theory, which defines institutions broadly; ranging from societal regulations, planning processes, and consumption patterns, to individual habits and practices. Furthermore, these institutions are found at various levels: the macro level includes the national level where national visions, action plans and goals, as well as legislation, subsidies and taxes are generated. The meso level includes a variety of institutions; public institutions on the regional and local levels, private organisations, public/private hybrids and not-for-profit civil society actors. Finally the micro level includes the individual in her capacity as citizen, as taxpayer, but primarily as customer and user of IMS. At all three levels (macro, meso and micro), barriers and enablers can be both formal (e.g. legislation) and informal (e.g. norms). On a macro level, government has an important role in relation to integrated mobility services both related to creating preconditions for implementing IMS, and to protecting public interest. The subsidization of tickets for public transport, and the implications of this for the role of Public transport within IMS seems to be a key issue, and a related question concerns the boundaries between state subsidized mobility services and commercially viable services, and how these can be combined in IMS solutions. The government could also use taxation policy, financing programs and regulations concerning data availability and standardization as measures to create an enabling environment for IMS. The discourse surrounding IMS at societal level is a strong driver for action, with IMS being presented as a panacea able to solve problems ranging from urban congestion and climate impact of transportation to economic growth and social inclusion. On the meso level, regional and local authorities have an important role to create an enabling environment for IMS regarding the physical infrastructure for public transport, bike infrastructure, carsharing services etc. On the informal side, a major driving force for getting IMS up and running is the perceived business opportunity in the nascent IMS market, not least for private actors. Several actors need to collaborate for a scalable integrated mobility service to materialize. This can be organised in a “business ecosystem”, where multiple actors add services from their core businesses into a whole that constitutes the integrated mobility service offering. If an offer of integrated mobility services is to emerge within a reasonable timeframe, one actor within the business ecosystem needs to take the lead, but in order for the system to survive, all required actors in the ecosystem must benefit from its existence. An interesting dimension relates to what different actors in the IMS ecosystem perceive is their role in relation to new mobility services, and the implications of different actors taking the lead. It is yet unclear who will/should take the role as service integrator. The question of different actors finding their role in the IMS ecosystem is made even more interesting by the fact that not only automotive OEMs and public transport operators are looking into ways of innovating using IMS, but also telecom, retail and media organisations. The extent to which these different actors, from different backgrounds, complement or compete with each other is a question yet to be settled. Public transport is generally seen as a backbone in integrated mobility services, and many public transport operators wish to take the lead in the development of new services, which they see as a complement to their existing services. On the other hand, private third party organisations could be seen as better suited to create service offerings that cater to other customer groups than the traditional public transport customers. The decision to sell public transport tickets through a commercial IMS integrator lies with the public transport operators, which could be a substantial barrier to IMS implementation with commercial IMS integrators. Integrated mobility services require a mobility platform that combines the different modes into one integrated service, and a major enabler for IMS is hence the rapid development within ICT. But although a number of such platforms are now available at the market, only a few of these have been tested in other contexts than smaller pilots. At the micro level, several trends are supportive of IMS. Increased densification of city centres creates incentives for citizens to consider alternatives to own their own car. Changes in the cost of owning a car could also have a large impact on the demand for IMS. Furthermore, the growth of the “sharing economy” means services such as IMS are gaining more acceptance among consumers. Research on IMS point to several kinds of potential customer benefits, such as personalised service, ease of transaction, ease of payment, dynamic journey management, and journey planning based on personal preferences. The primary customer base is likely to be “flexi travellers” who can often travel by public transport but also need other means of transport on a regular basis. This customer base will experience a well-functioning integrated mobility service as a very price-worthy alternative to private car ownership, and thus have a high willingness to pay for it. However, research within behavioural economics shows that customers generally tend to overvalue current benefits and undervalue potential gains, resulting in a status quo bias, which means attracting enough customers to a new type of mobility service will be a challenge.
Transition pathways of e-mobility services
Ecology and the Environment, 2015
The concept of mobility is developing in to a complete solution composed of various modes of transport and alternative ownership models. Evidence suggests that Mobility-as-a-Service will become integral to society, incorporating mobile apps for payment and location-aided services, thus ensuring ease of use and functionality [1]. This is a considerable opportunity to decarbonise transport within cities, reducing the need for private car ownership and utilising electric vehicles within the mobility model. There is however uncertainty of what and how this should be implemented and therefore requires further research within the transitions field. This research will investigate city mobility services, specifically e-mobility. This will be considered in the context of product-service systems to explore the existing market and identify transition pathways. Use-oriented services are the primary focus as the business models are most explicitly linked to car sharing, renting and pooling. The level of uptake of e-mobility services is reliant upon the interest and acceptance of society and the mechanisms put in place by Government and private enterprise. An expected outcome of this research is a requirement for greater collaboration between Government and private enterprise, in order to initially fund city schemes but also ensure they are viable in the long term. It can be expected that data must be shared to a greater extent between the public and private sector and that this is accessible to citizens. Both of these factors will affect people's choice of transport mode through availability of vehicles and real time information on travel options.
Exploring the rebound-effect of information technologies on mobility systems: clues for a blueprint
It is commonly expected and announced that the information and communication technologies (ICTs) will relieve an enormous pressure from the transport investments and constraints in the future as less people should be inclined to travel (instead of "tele-doing" things) and less goods (in particular documents and written material of all kinds) should be released in the traffic. Environment will look better, regional development and flexible options for learning and working can finally be in our agenda. This idealised perspective is exactly the contrary of what we can observe in most ICTsupported domains. As a matter of fact, our own research as well as other studies, in various areas, show that ICTs appear to play boosting role for mobility, building upon various development patterns, globally identified as the "rebound-effect". Beyond any form of ingenuity, it seems but urgent to understand and document this process, its features and stakes. The domains in which we have carried out research, providing supporting results for the above-mentioned observation, are in particular: home automation and telematics, e-work, elearning, e-voting, e-publishing (with main focus on personal mobility issues) and (for freight) the influence of ICTs on transport enterprises. These mapping and documenting of cross-fertilising features and stakes should also lead to understand better the future of this issue, not only from the environmental point of view, which is often the claim for leveraging the hope that ICTs will diminish mobility (and therefore to restore a more realistic picture on this battlefront) but also economic (mobility is a resource and asks for organisational creativity) and societal points of view (let us consider in particular the pervasive or ubiquitous information technology horizon). Our presentation aims at building upon our existing results and current debates in the matter, and at point out some key perspective for this problematic's close future, with special attention paid to both internal and external implications for transport.
Ready for Mobility as a Service? Insights from stakeholders and end-users
Travel Behaviour and Society, 2018
Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is a relatively recent mobility concept, which has the potential to contribute to a more sustainable transport system. The starting point for its success is to acquire a deeper understanding of the key actors' motives, expectations, perceptions and concerns. To this end, this paper applies a mixed-methods approach, using qualitative and quantitative research to collect and analyze data from key MaaS-related stakeholders and end-users. In particular, workshops with stakeholders and focus groups with end-users were conducted in two European metropolitan areas, Budapest in Hungary and Greater Manchester in the United Kingdom. In addition, an on-line questionnaire survey was launched to collect quantitative data from end-users. Stakeholders' and end-users' perspectives on different MaaS-related aspects are collected and analyzed. Our analysis indicates that stakeholders are highly motivated to join a MaaS partnership for receiving better quality demand data and increasing their market shares and revenues. In addition, lack of data and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) was identified as a significant operational/technical barrier, while the strong reliance of people on their private vehicles was indicated as the strongest social barrier. A qualitative cluster analysis was conducted revealing significant variations in the stakeholders' viewpoints depending on the business domain they represented. The findings of this paper provide useful insights for the decision-making processes of policy makers, local authorities, transport operators and other MaaS actors, helping them to make informed decisions when implementing MaaS schemes in their cities.
Promising Groups for Mobility-as-a-Service in the Netherlands
2019
The idea of Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) is gaining momentum internationally. Transport researchers, policy makers, transport service providers, developers and others are all eager to get involved. In this study, MaaS is defined as a transport concept involving the use of a single digital platform to find, book and pay for trips offered by various transport service providers. The platform not only integrates the transport providers, but also the various transport modes. Such integration makes it easier to compare transport modes according to their trip times, costs, comfort levels, environmental impact and other aspects. To extend this definition, MaaS users are also those who have successfully used the MaaS app on multiple occasions to arrange trips via a variety of transport providers and modalities. Commentators describe how MaaS could support a decrease in the negative externalities caused by transport, and, more generally, could be an efficient travel demand management tool with environmentally and socially desirable outcomes. However, these outcomes will be highly dependent on the people willing and able to use MaaS. Acquiring a better picture of the most promising groups within the population is a necessary part of MaaS research, as this allows for the impacts of this new concept to be further quantified. Against this background, this study, conducted on behalf of the Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management’s MaaS team, aimed at answering the following research question: Which groups within the Dutch population are relatively most likely to use MaaS? Since MaaS is still a nascent concept, surveying the Dutch population directly on this topic would be complex. To determine how more or less likely people would be to make use of MaaS, 1,547 people were surveyed via a series of 25 statements and questions. The subsequent findings were expressed as a set of four indicators, called the MaaS Potential Index (MPI). A Lasso regression analysis was then used to link the four indicators to the respondents’ most relevant personal characteristics. Furthermore, since the respondents had previously participated in the Netherlands Mobility Panel, substantial amounts of their personal background information were available. This study did not focus on estimating the absolute number of MaaS users in the Netherlands, or the total demand. Rather, the focal point was the relative comparative positions of the various population groups, whereby one group is more likely to use MaaS than another. The early adopters of the Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform will be people with hypermobile lifestyles. Healthy and active young people who use public transport, own folding bikes and are concerned about the environment will use MaaS before older people of limited mobility, in poorer health and with lower income and education levels. It is highly likely that the profile of early adopters will differ from that of the majority or laggards. The idea that the personal characteristics of early adopters and laggards differ from one another is also supported by the findings of marketing and innovation literature. This insight has far-reaching implications for MaaS’s potential impacts on the transport system. The behaviour of the initial users cannot be extrapolated to the entire population. It may well be that the initial users start using public transport less, precisely because one of MaaS’s most promising groups consists of people who already frequently use public transport. If the use of MaaS results in the early adopters using public transport less frequently, this does not necessarily mean that public transport use will further decrease when more people adopt MaaS.
Drivers and Barriers for Integrated Mobility Services
2017
Drivers and Barriers for Integrated Mobility Services Koglin, Till 2017 Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Koglin, T. (2017). Drivers and Barriers for Integrated Mobility Services. (2017:3 ed.) K2-Nationellt kunskapscentrum för kollektivtrafik.
Transportation Research Part A, 2019
Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) has been argued as part of the solution to prevalent transport problems. However, progress from pilots to large-scale implementation has hitherto been slow. The aim of the research reported in this paper was to empirically and in-depth investigate how, and to what extent, different factors affect the development and implementation of MaaS. A framework was developed, with a basis in institutional theory and the postulation that formal as well informal factors on different analytical levels (macro, meso and micro) must be considered. The research was organised as a multiple case study in Finland and Sweden and a qualitative approach was chosen for data collection and analysis. A number of factors with a claimed impact on the development and implementation of MaaS was revealed. At the macro level, these factors included legislation concerning transport, innovation and public administration, and the presence (or not) of a shared vision for MaaS. At the meso level, (the lack of) appropriate business models, cultures of collaboration, and assumed roles and responsibilities within the MaaS ecosystem were identified as significant factors. At the micro level, people's attitudes and habits were recognised as important factors to be considered. However, how the 'S' in MaaS fits (or not) the transport needs of the individual/household appears to play a more important role in adoption or rejection of MaaS than what has often been acknowledged in previous papers on MaaS. The findings presented in this paper provide several implications for public and private sector actors. Law-making authorities can facilitate MaaS developments by adjusting relevant regulations and policies such as transport-related subsidies, taxation policies and the definition of public transport. Regional and local authorities could additionally contribute to creating conducive conditions for MaaS by, for example, planning urban designs and transport infrastructures to support service-based travelling. Moreover, private actors have key roles to play in future MaaS developments, as both public and private transport services are needed if MaaS is to become a viable alternative to privately owned cars. Thus, the advance of MaaS business models that benefit all involved actors is vital for the prosperity of the emerging MaaS ecosystem. Transportation Research Part A xxx (xxxx) xxx-xxx 0965-8564/
Transport Reviews, 2019
This paper presents a comprehensive literature review focused on the supply side of mobility services, providing relevant insights at the conceptual, operational, and modelling levels. Definitions are first drawn from the Mobility as a Service paradigm due to its predominance in the literature. This is followed by an assessment of the operational features of a range of mobility services, including carsharing, bikesharing, ridehailing, and demand responsive transit. To conclude the review, the state-of-the-art in modelling approaches for mobility services is reported, at different levels of complexity and integration. Three of the most important findings and arguments from this paper suggest that a high degree of generality exists for operational features of mobility services; that it is essential to make a distinction between Mobility as a Service and a mobility service in isolation; along with the argument that human agency should be carefully considered in modelling efforts, both for user agent and driver agent decisionmaking processes. Finally, key considerations are proposed for the future development of a conceptual framework for modelling the supply side of mobility services, which would have a generic service provider model as its core component.
The potential of mobility as a service bundles as a mobility management tool
Transportation
The Mobility as a Service (MaaS) concept has recently taken the transport industry by storm. However, as applications and research on it are limited, there is still little evidence on what this new phenomenon could bring to the transport sector. This paper aims to provide initial insights into whether MaaS product bundles (monthly subscription plans) can be used as a mobility management tool to promote shared modes. Data from an original survey, specifically designed to study MaaS plans, was used with Greater London as the case study area. The results show, that even though respondents do not prefer shared modes in their MaaS plans, a significant number of them are willing to subscribe to plans that include these modes. Once they have subscribed, over 60% of them indicated that they would be willing to try transportation modes that they previously did not use if their MaaS plans included them. These initial results show evidence that MaaS bundles can indeed be used as a mobility management tool to introduce more travelers to shared modes.
Mobility as a service: Comparing developments in Sweden and Finland
Research in Transportation Business & Management
This paper examines how institutional factors influence developments in the field of Mobility as a Service (MaaS). We draw upon neo-institutional theory in order to describe drivers and barriers of MaaS developments in Sweden and Finland. By analyzing similarities and differences across the cases, we identify a set of general implications for MaaS policymakers and practitioners. Developments in Finland demonstrate the importance of top-level support, of inter-organizational collaboration and of trust among key stakeholders. The Swedish case reiterates the need for inter-sectorial collaboration, particularly with regard to creating the right conditions for commercialization, and to involving stakeholders on both strategic and operational levels of the transport sector in developing the vision for MaaS. Lastly, we also assess the utility of the applied theoretical framework, and comment on the necessity of recognizing that both practice-based and structural changes are needed in order to facilitate institutional change.