David A. Hensher, John D. Nelson, Camila Balbontin, Chinh Ho, Edward Wei, Corinne Mulley, Thiranjaya Kandanaarachchi
Abstract
Mobility as a Service (MaaS) has garnered a significant amount of interest over the last 15 years and yet we have very little to show in terms of its influence on travel behaviour aligned with sustainability goals or even a business case without an injection of significant government subsidy or private venture capital. While we see claimed success in Japan and China with government-led and controlled initiatives with extensive subsidies, there is no financial support in other countries elsewhere beyond existing non-MaaS provided subsidies. We suggest the focus should be on a broader interpretation of transport services as an input into a wider activity-focussed product mix driven by the private sector, in a way that is also financially sustainable without necessarily requiring further subsidy from government. This future of MaaS resides in a greater involvement of non-mobility service providers (NMSPs). We call this Mobility as a Feature (MaaF) as a revised eco-system invoked through participation of NMSPs. A multi-service focus may offer up some real prospects of delivering desirable travel behaviour change and facilitating a scalable outcome. A survey in six countries in 2024 was undertaken to identify initiatives that are already in place within private enterprise NMSPs and government agencies that align well with contributing to sustainable travel behaviour goals. The results suggest many NMSPs are committed to initiatives and actions promoting changes to sustainable travel behaviour for employees or other stakeholders but are not typically officially recognised as MaaS/MaaF-like initiatives. These initiatives cover a broad range from rewarding sustainable travel, workplace charging for EVs and subsidies for employee use of public transport and facilitating active travel. This paper suggests a new interpretation of what a future MaaS/MaaF portfolio may look like, noting that this scalable future does not have to depend on transport service providers. Arguably, the historical focus on transport service providers appears to have been a major roadblock in progressing MaaS.
