The hitchhiker‘s guide to the future of digital mobility market places – new civity discussion paper examines success factors for mobility platforms
For more than a decade, public transport operators around the world have been trying to reach for the stars to improve our multi- and intermodal travel experience. However, none of the public transport operators, agencies and technology providers have landed on MaaS yet. But why, what is actually the problem? Why do users not take the integrated solutions of information, booking and billing from a single source? Is not everything supposed to be so simple? To answer these questions, a new discussion paper of civity examines the landscape of mobility-as-a-Service platforms (MaaS).
Reasons for the absence of a thriving mobility platform are as varied as any failed space mission. One would think that the development of multi- and intermodal mobility solutions should not be rocket science. Nevertheless, it seems to be one.
In a new discussion paper of civity determines the success factors for a mission to MaaS. Potential users want to be informed, they want to be guided and taken by the hand to find the most suitable travel plan within their preferred mobility forms. Potential users do not want to be overwhelmed with travel options they never use or app functionalities they have never thought of. Consequently, it is essential to think of the users and their requirements as the centre of the solar system your MaaS platform orbits.
Such user requirements vary depending on the local environment and the reasons for travel respectively, possibly presenting conflicting interests. Consequently, one needs to internalize that it cannot be one mobility app that meets all the user needs, that addresses multimodal and intermodal transport, and that covers every geographical area. Rather, several mobility apps need to be established as one product family, while they all build on the same MaaS platform.
By incorporating these principles, public transport operators, agencies and technology providers will finally be able to land on MaaS, and at last, the stars will be within one’s reach.
The complete study can be downloaded below.