What Is Mobility As a Service (MaaS)?

Mobility as a Service, also know as MaaS and sometimes referred to as Transportation as a Service (TaaS), is a consumer-centric model of people transportation. MaaS is an on-demand, real-time platform that can include any combination of transport methods such as car and bike sharing, taxis and car rentals/leases, and provides everything for the consumer from travel planning to payments.

Subscribe to an app and you could have access to a scooter, bike, car or a train pass, for however long you need it. The end result is a more convenient and affordable method of getting around.

Another term often used interchangeably is smart mobility — a wider concept involving various modes of transportation for ecological and social benefit. Smart cities incorporate smart mobility as a part of the solution to reduce traffic congestion and increase efficiency. Smarter, cleaner vehicles will help lower emissions and increase road safety. We explain smart mobility in more detail in this article.

What Are the Benefits of Mobility as a Service?

The benefits of MaaS include:

• Easy route planning — Real-time route planning allows users to plan journeys using multiple transport methods, based on intelligent suggestions derived from their personal preferences.
  
• Simplified payments — MaaS users can pay for transportation using phones, smartwatches and bank cards, before or after their journey, or on a subscription basis.
  
• The personal touch — MaaS is a fully personalised service that builds relationships between users and the transport provider. By utilising big data, two-way communication and constant user feedback, MaaS systems become the ultimate customer-focused transportation platforms.