Mobility as a Service (MaaS) also known as Transportation-as-a-Service (TaaS)

What is MaaS?

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is the integration of various forms of transport services into a single mobility service accessible on demand. To meet a customer’s request, a MaaS operator  facilitates a diverse menu of transport options, be they public transport, ride-, car- or bike-sharing, taxi or car rental/lease, or a combination thereof. For the user, MaaS can offer added value through use of a single application to provide access to mobility, with a single payment channel instead of multiple ticketing and payment operations. For its users, MaaS should be the best value proposition, by helping them meet their mobility needs and solve the inconvenient parts of individual journeys as well as the entire system of mobility services.

A successful MaaS service also brings new business models and ways to organise and operate the various transport options, with advantages for transport operators including access to improved user and demand information and new opportunities to serve unmet demand. The aim of MaaS is to provide an alternative to the use of the private car that may be as convenient, more sustainable,  help to reduce congestion and constraints in transport capacity, and can be even cheaper.

Transport on Demand

MaaS fulfils users’ needs for mobility with a wide range of transport services for both travellers and goods, offering tailor-made transport on demand. To meet a customer’s needs, a MaaS service provider arranges the most suitable transport means, be it public transport, taxi or car rental, or even ride-, car- or bike-sharing.

• (MaaS) will enhance the passenger experience. MaaS, also known as Transportation-as-a-Service (TaaS), refers to the move toward mobility solutions that are consumed as a service, such as ridesharing services like Uber or Lyft, as opposed to personally owned modes of transportation. In future, we will see broader use of MaaS across different modes of transportation, providing passengers with a seamless travel experience — from bikeshares, to rideshares, to mass transit systems and everywhere in between.

• Transportation agencies will uncover new revenue streams to recoup losses from fewer gas vehicles on the road. As automated, connected and ridesharing vehicles increase in prevalence, more people are moving toward MaaS and the importance of owning a personal vehicle is diminishing. This trend, coupled with the fact that more electric vehicles are hitting the roadways, means that state and local governments are gathering fewer profits from gas taxes, tolls, and other forms of vehicle-related recurring revenue that help them maintain roadways and infrastructure.