Date: June 1, 2019
Author(s): Tomoko Kanda
Abstract
Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) represents a shift from vehicle ownership-based mobility to mobility consumed as a service. MaaS enables users to plan, book, and pay for door-to-door trips by using a single app and enjoy a near-seamless journey via a single or multiple travel modes, such as public transit, carsharing, ride-hailing, e-scooters, and shared bikes. To realize this concept, emerging MaaS players, such as Uber and Lyft, are investing in MaaS platforms to become one-stop shops for urban transportation. However, while they have improved mobility for many, including those without car access, their rapid proliferation has also sparked heated debates over their potential impacts on safety, equity, and public space use, as well as their near- and long-term effects on traditional public transit services. This changing mobility landscape poses a challenge to public transit agencies, forcing them to rethink their roles in regional transportation networks. This study finds that the successful launch of MaaS programs with private companies requires a combination of (1) public agency executives’ commitment to innovative solutions, (2) effective contract management, (3) failure tolerance, and (4) knowledge spillovers across departments and institutions. Markets still require public intervention to mitigate negative externalities, such as limited access to app-based services as well as increased congestion and emissions
About the Project
Mobility as a Service presents the opportunity to comprehensively shift how people travel – from personal vehicle ownership to a marketplace offering integrated trip planning, fare payment, and behavioral incentives. Increasingly, major private mobility providers, such as Uber and Lyft, are demonstrating their ambitions to be one-stop shops for urban mobility. Yet, when it comes to equity, accessibility, affordability, and use of public roadways, it is likely not in the best interest of the public to have purely privatized mobility. This project will help shape how public agencies should advance Mobility as a Service to help achieve societal goals. Project will research the Mobility as a Service market trends in North America and will identify key success factors of Mobility as a Service programs promoted by the public transportation authorities through in-depth interviews. Based on the analysis above, project will develop policy recommendations on how King County Metro should partner with private mobility service providers.