Perceived action spaces for public actors in the development of Mobility as a Service (original) (raw)

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.

Public transport regimes and mobility as a service: Governance approaches in Amsterdam, Birmingham, and Helsinki

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 2019

This paper examines governance responses to Mobility as a Service (MaaS). The analysis focuses on the interactions between public transport systems and MaaS developments in Amsterdam, Birmingham, and Helsinki. Case comparison is informed by the multilevel perspective on sociotechnical transitions and literature on meta-governance of networks. Drawing on these frameworks and empirical findings, the paper identifies six governance approaches to MaaS across cases: analyser, architect, convener, experimenter, lawmaker, and provider. These basic models encompass strategies ranging from hands-on strong intervention to information collection efforts. Consistent with the transitions literature, these six approaches indicate that public transport regimes seek to control the apparent disruptive potential of MaaS by incrementally absorbing innovations; to this end, regime actors adopt governance responses that tend to reproduce existing institutionalised ways of doing and prevailing logics. Furthermore, the six approaches reveal intense interaction between regime and niche, suggesting that a niche-regime space might have emerged in the cases; actors travel and operate across niche, regime, and niche-regimes, mainly driven by concerns with market share and revenue streams in the mobility system.

Public–private innovation: barriers in the case of mobility as a service in West Sweden

Public Management Review

Departing from open innovation (OI), this case study explores the development of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) in West Sweden. An analysis of 19 interviews reveals how representatives from involved actors perceive internal and external barriers as hampering the regional public transport authority's attempts to collaborate with private actors, and that the perception of barriers is incongruent across public and private actors. Transferability to other cases of public-private OI is discussed, and implications for public actors are proposed. The paper expands the knowledge of preconditions for MaaS' development and of the unique conditions for OI in public-private settings.

Institutional conditions for integrated mobility services (IMS): Towards a framework for analysis. K2 Working Papers 2016:16

2016

The present text is a theoretical framework that has been developed with the aim to generate knowledge of and policy recommendations for the promotion of integrated mobility services (IMS), with specific regard to institutional dimensions. Integrated mobility services are services where the passenger’s transport needs are met by a service that not only integrates a range of mobility services, both public and private, but also provides one-stop access to all services through a common interface. These types of services are currently being developed in several cities globally, and the purpose of the project is to understand and explain how institutions can enable, but also impede, their realization. Institutions are defined as a relatively stable collection of rules and practices, embedded in structures that enable action. In the project a broad theoretical approach, developed by an interdisciplinary research team, will be applied. As such, the framework includes factors at the macro, ...

Mobility as a Service: Defining a Transport Utopia

Future Transportation, 2022

Having been widely acknowledged as enabling access to education, employment, leisure and social activities, transport choices are also the cause of many challenges cities face. Recognising that change is needed, planners and policymakers are considering alternative methods of planning and delivering transport. Mobility as a Service (or MaaS) is one such idea that has gained traction with academics and professionals alike. Hailed as the answer to integrating complex transport systems, MaaS has yet to be implemented at scale in urban transport systems due in part to the lack of an agreed conceptual definition, the top-down approach to implementing what is meant to be a more personalised method of accessing transport, and the lack of local promoters (in comparison to global corporations and lobbyists). This article reflects on the current barriers to defining MaaS, considers how a novel public engagement approach could be used to create local definitions that support citizen engagement...

Institutional conditions for integrated mobility services (IMS) - Towards a framework for analysis

K2 WORKING PAPERS 2016:16

The present text is a theoretical framework that has been developed with the aim to generate knowledge of and policy recommendations for the promotion of integrated mobility services (IMS), with specific regard to institutional dimensions. Integrated mobility services are services where the passenger’s transport needs are met by a service that not only integrates a range of mobility services, both public and private, but also provides one-stop access to all services through a common interface. These types of services are currently being developed in several cities globally, and the purpose of the project is to understand and explain how institutions can enable, but also impede, their realization. Institutions are defined as a relatively stable collection of rules and practices, embedded in structures that enable action. In the project a broad theoretical approach, developed by an interdisciplinary research team, will be applied. As such, the framework includes factors at the macro, meso and micro levels, thus including extensive societal trends as well as individual's needs and behaviour. The macro level includes broader social and political factors, including both formal rules and more informal social norms and perceptions. The division between formal and informal variables recur on the meso and micro levels respectively. The meso level – which includes both public and private actors at regional and local levels – consists of both formal institutional factors such as taxation and regulations, and informal factors such as organizational culture and inherited networks between regional actors. Each actor enters the collaborative processes that signify IMS with their own ideals, interests and expectations, and it is in these processes of negotiation that the framework takes it point of departure. It is also in this context that business models will be developed, another central aspect of the realisation of IMS. Finally, the framework also includes the micro level, where an individual perspective is placed at centre stage. Individuals are affected by various formal incentives and push factors, as well as more informal aspects such as self-image and social status. Through the application of the framework in a number of case studies, empirical findings will help illuminate which institutional factors enable or constrain the development of IMS. The findings will provide the empirical and analytical foundation for suggestions on how formal and informal rules and practices can be modified to enable new IMS to contribute to sustainable mobility.

Development and implementation of Mobility-as-a-Service -A qualitative study of barriers and enabling factors

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/

Mobility-as-a-Service – global trends and implementation potential in urban areas in Poland

Transport Economics and Logistics, 2018

The concept of sustainable development increasingly affects cities and the challenges they face. At the present stage of sustainability awareness it is desired that the discussion about the city development combines the financial aspects and harmonious social relationships with the natural environment. The role of local authorities in implementation processes is undeniable. The objective of the paper is to verify theoretical assumptions regarding sustainable development governance in cities. A special attention is paid to transport and logistics solutions as supported measures but also as barriers of implementation. The detailed questionnaire in the form of the survey was chosen to examine how local governments practice the concept of the green urban economy to strengthen the sustainable development in different cities. Results prove that Scandinavian cities, in comparison to other European and some North American cities, are indisputable leaders in the development and implementatio...

The Relationship Between Social Innovation and Active Mobility Public Services

Journal of Law and Mobility, 2020

This article aims to discuss the relationship between social innovation and public services on active mobility. Two active mobility initiatives are considered in the city of São Paulo, and analyzed based on 11 variables that characterize social innovation. Through the mapping of recent Brazilian regulatory frameworks for active mobility and a low-carbon economy, we can propose the following relationship: the more local (municipal) the public policy, the greater its social influence and participation. However, despite the advances indicated by both experiences of active mobility analyzed (highlighting the role of organized civil society), and by the progress in the regulatory framework, until now innovative practices in the local context have been restricted to the treatment of pedestrian spaces. Therefore, there exists a great potential for the continued introduction of innovations in the improvement and scale of public services for pedestrian mobility, following the paradigm of sus...

Changing Frames of Mobility through Radical Policy Interventions? The Stockholm Congestion Tax

International Planning Studies, 2010

The introduction of a congestion tax was a significant moment in the management of mobility in Stockholm. After several decades of lobbying and political conflict, the tax was introduced as a trial 2006, consented to by citizens through a referendum, and then adopted permanently in the summer 2007. Consensus on addressing the problems caused by the car in the city appeared to have been reached, and the final scheme was introduced to international acclaim. This paper critically examines this apparent consensus on confronting car based mobility by analysing how mobility was framed at key stages in policy making since the 1970s through to the trial in 2006 and subsequent implementation. The analysis centres on the place of the car in successive framings of mobility. Changing targets and objectives for urban traffic management are compared, and an attempt is made to trace winners and losers in relation to motility and environmental quality. Overall the paper attempts to show how congestion taxation was framed and reframed to produce dramatically different possible mobility interventions. This analysis is used to argue that the framing of future mobility changed fundamentally by the time the final scheme was adopted, and that a moment of ambivalence about the car, during the trial, was not used to confront car based mobility. Instead a persuasive story of successful implementation has allowed a new car oriented mobility regime to slip into place under the veil of a progressive policy intervention.