Valuable service or smoke and mirrors?

摘要

Mobility-as-a-Service has been referred to as the "Netflix of Transportation". It represents a shift away from using personally owned modes of transportation and scheduled public transport networks, towards mobility solutions that are requested and paid for by the user on an as-needed basis via a single payment channel, rather than requiring multiple ticketing and payment operations for each stage of the journey. A number of businesses certainly believe there is money to be made from MaaS and are keen to exploit the potential, whatever it may be. However, to do this they need to identify what the business model is, what the traveller wants or is prepared to pay for and how such a service can be made more attractive and cost effective for a user compared to the convenience of private vehicle ownership.