Mobility as a service: Comparing developments in Sweden and Finland (original) (raw)
Related papers
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, ...
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.
Perceived action spaces for public actors in the development of Mobility as a Service
European Transport Research Review, 2019
The public sector is showing increased interest in Mobility as a Service (MaaS), as its introduction and market penetration is proposed to potentially disrupt the personal transport system. However, involved public actors are approaching MaaS very differently. This paper applies a neo-institutional perspective to study the activities of public actors in the ongoing development of MaaS in Finland and Sweden. To this end, it maps what policy instruments public actors are applying to govern the processes and discusses how this might relate to their perceived action spaces and roles. The contribution to the MaaS literature is twofold. Firstly, the analysis shows that public actors are applying a wide range of both hard and soft policy instruments in order to govern the development of MaaS. Secondly, a comparison across Finland and Sweden suggests that the perceived action spaces and the roles taken by public actors on regional and local levels are influenced by the activities of public actors on state-level. The paper concludes that public actors and policy instruments should not be studied in isolation. Rather, perceived action spaces and roles need to be analyzed in a multi-level setting, where processes of enabling and promoting can vary between societal levels, and where the roles of the public sector are negotiated not only between public and private actors, but also between different public actors.
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.
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/
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.
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.
This paper presents insights from a six-month field operational test (FOT) in Gothenburg, 2! Sweden, during which 195 participants tested the UbiGo transport broker service for everyday 3! travel. The service integrates both public and private solutions into a new type of "collective 4! transport", thereby contributing to Swedish societal goals of a reduction of private car use and 5! ownership. A triangulation approach to data sources and collection methods has been adopted 6! in order to identify matches and mismatches between the expectations and experiences of 7! three stakeholder groups: users (FOT participants/customers), commercial actors (the 8! transport broker and service providers), and society. Identified matches include the 9! "transportation smorgasbord" concept, reducing private car ownership, and increased pre-trip 10! planning. Identified mismatches relate to the greater than expected reduction in car use; the 11! respective business models of the transport broker and service providers; back office 12! administration; and the smartphone platform. Gaps include the infeasibility of some trips and 13! the need for more carsharing sites. All in all, the FOT was successful with 93% of participants 14! satisfied with their travel and 97% wanting to continue using UbiGo. However, the 15! mismatches and gaps need to be resolved or at least deliberated upon in order to create a 16! commercially viable transport broker service. Based on the experience gained, the authors 17! conclude that truly "collective transport" must involve close cooperation between public and 18! private actors, and the consideration of at least these three, sometimes conflicting, 19! stakeholders' perspectives, in order to create integrated solutions. Furthermore, new business 20! models are needed to address the challenges associated with future, integrated, urban mobility 21! solutions. 22! 23! KEYWORDS 24! field operational test, multimodality, seamless travel, travel service, stakeholder, user, travel 25! broker, service provider, society, private car ownership 26! 27!
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...
Transportation Research Procedia, 2016
This paper presents some of the findings from the trial and evaluation of an example of Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS). The service, UbiGo, was developed within the Go:Smart project in Gothenburg, Sweden. In total 195 individuals in 83 households became paying customers over a period of six months. Overall, outcome of the trial was positive, i.e. the service was used and the customers were satisfied, more so than with their previous travel solution. Based on questionnaires and interviews, key service attributes were identified, including the 'transportation smorgasbord' concept, simplicity, improved access and flexibility, convenience, and economy. It is argued that successful implementation of MaaS requires careful consideration of these design attributes. However, MaaS relies on cooperation and collaboration, on the notion of a cooperative and interconnected transport system (including services, infrastructure, information, and payment), where boundaries between not only transport modes are blurred but also between public and private operators. The evaluation of UbiGo indicated that the main obstacles to further dissemination of MaaS may be found within and between service providing companies and organisations in terms of, e.g. regulations and institutional barriers.