User’s Activities when Using Mobility as a Service: Results of the Smart Mobility Challenge Project 2020 and 2021

摘要

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is expected to spread globallyand in Japan as a solution for social issues related to transportation.Researchers have conducted MaaS trials in several cities. However, only afew trials have reached full-scale practical use. Therefore, it is essential toclarify issues such as the business model and user acceptability and seeksolutions to social problems rather than simply conducting trials. This paperdescribes the introduction of a MaaS project supported by the Japanesegovernment known as the “Smart Mobility Challenge” project, conductedin 2020 and 2021. We employed five themes necessary for social implementationfrom the first trial of this MaaS project. As a consortium, we alsopromoted regional demonstrations by soliciting regional applications basedon these five themes. In addition, we conducted fundamental research usingdata from the MaaS projects to clarify local transportation issues in detail,collect residents’ mobile behavior data, and assess the project’s effects onthe participant’s happiness. We employed the life-space assessment methodto investigate the spread of the residents’ behavioral life-space resultingfrom using mobility services. The spread of the life-space mobility beforeand after using mobility services confirmed an expansion of the lifespacebecause of specific services. Moreover, we conducted questionnairesurveys and clarified the relationships between life-space assessment, humancharacteristics, and subjective happiness using path analysis. We alsoconducted a persona-based approach in addition to objective data collectionusing GPS and wearable monitors and a web-based questionnaire. Wefound differences between the actual participants and participants assumedby local governments. We conducted interviews and developed tips for improvingmobility service. We propose that qualitative data help clarify theimage of mobility services that meet the residents’ needs.