New report provides roadmap for MaaS

The CERRE (Centre on Regulation in Europe), a Brussels based independent think tank has published its latest report, ‘Mobility as a Service (MaaS): A digital roadmap for public transport authorities’. 

The report, co-authored by Yves Crozet and Jean Coldefy, examines the capacity for digital mobility solutions offered by MaaS to help achieve sustainability targets. As climate targets loom larger than ever, pressure to decarbonise urban transport continues to grow, and cities and regions are looking for smart solutions for sustainable mobility.

The explosion of technological developments over the last several years has prompted new and innovative approaches. One such breakthrough has been MaaS. MaaS seeks to allow travellers to access a variety of transport services via their smartphone, facilitating easy access to a range of modal offerings from a single digital platform.

Cities and regions across Europe- and indeed the globe- have been instigating such technology to encourage use of collective transport. Concepts such as the app Mobility 360, from POLIS member, EMT Madrid, are making public transit more accessible and encouraging citizens away from private vehicular travel. This digital service has provided essential support for passengers using public transport during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nevertheless, as this report asserts, there is much work to be done to initiate the modal shift required to decarbonise transport. As such, the authors seek to establish a roadmap for organising mobility authorities (OMAs), examining the challenges and opportunities posed by digitalisation.

The report focuses on key issues including:

• Data
• Financing
• Regulation
• Rules for fair competition

The authors draw from best practices established by cities including POLIS members, Vienna and Brussels, exploring how both public and private mobility stakeholders can work together for good data governance; an issue POLIS' survey 'Shared Data for Shared Micromobility' has also examined.

The report concludes that for the digital revolution to be fully exploited, MaaS must be considered as a "common good", a means of managing public space through public data platforms. The authors indicate that establishing such a platform using a trusted third party - who represents the OMA- is the key to an effective MaaS. This will facilitate the integration of public transport supply and data- the formula for effective multimodality.

Find the full report here.