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Procuring Mobility as a Service: Exploring dialogues with potential bidders in West Sweden
Abstract and Figures
Following a political order in late 2014, the regional public transport organisation (PTO) in West Sweden has been on a quest to procure Mobility as a Service (MaaS). In spring 2016, they invited potential bidders to discuss the terms for such procurement through a 'request for information’ process. 65 actors participated in a start-up meeting, and 30 explicated their thoughts in subsequent individual meetings with the PTO. Based on participatory observation of these meetings, this paper explores which aspects that frequented the discussions. It identifies seven aspects that potential bidders believe are important to consider when procuring MaaS: cross-sector collaboration, allocation of responsibilities, governance, business models, target groups, service design and technical integration. Moreover, the analysis suggests that MaaS (in this context) is premature for public procurement at this point in time. Instead more collaborative forms of public-private partnerships seem to be needed to drive the development.
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... In the literature, however, there are different views on the nature and extent of the involvement of local authorities. The scope ranges from soft factors such as promotion or supporting tasks in the development of MaaS projects [110] to financing and concluding binding contracts with actors [97]. ...
... A consensus that emerged in the publications was the formulation and specification of a goal or a roadmap for the development of MaaS by local authorities [30,79,97,110]. Only by creating a uniform target image of MaaS with a long-term orientation can the necessary framework conditions be created so that public transport and private actors can join forces in collaborative projects [96,129]. ...
... The distribution of roles and responsibilities between actors in this emerging ecosystem is a weakly framed but significant issue. Thus, it is seen as a major challenge to motivate public and private actors to agree on new common contractual conditions [110]. ...
The number of publications about mobility as a service (MaaS) has increased rapidly in the past years, spreading into various fields. In this paper, a total of 127 scientific publications about MaaS are reviewed and categorized into an overarching thematic framework in order to highlight key areas of research and further potential. Three research questions are highlighted in this review: (1) which topics are discussed in the existing MaaS literature? (2) what are the main results in the specific fields? and (3) where are gaps for further research? Publications have focused substantially on the topics of the market, users, data and technology, and the impact on the transportation system. The review shows that, regarding the concept, multi-level approaches have been established for the organization and cooperation of the actors involved, showing different levels of integration of public and private actors on a regional and supra-regional level. Various groups have already been identified as potential users, but the relatively low willingness to pay and the requirements regarding the individualization of mobility services pose problems that have not yet been solved. There is also a constant and unsolved challenge regarding the sensitive motion data that must be stored and processed. Significant research is still needed, including assessments of the impact of MaaS and what effects the service will have on the established use of transport modes, as well as how packages need to be designed and priced in order to optimally reach users.
... "a mobility distribution model in which all of customer's major transportation needs are met from a single platform by a single service provider that orchestrates each individual transport service component to meet a customer's end-to-end service expectations." (cited in Ovaska, 2017) The subsequent creation in 2015 of the public-private partnership "MaaS Alliance" 20 , working as a focal point that promotes a common European approach to MaaS and contributes today to European policy-making among other activities, understands "MaaS" as: Each author perspective culminates in their own definition for "MaaS", and it is also widely acknowledged that there isn't still a commonly accepted description by the scientific community (Smith, Sochor, & Karlsson, 2017;Kronsell, Karlsson, Sarasini, & Sochor, 2016;Polis Network, 2017). ...
... • Non-digital Offline -which is represented by "on-street information points" (e.g. mobility information shops) G. Smith, Sochor, & Karlsson, 2017b); ...
... ion' and 'authentication' procedures (Sochor et al., 2015b;Veerapanane et al., 2018), the answer to the second question takes place when defining "What" information can be accessed in the following phases. Most authors identify the "journey planner" as the central element concerning information on mobility services (Ambrosino, Nelson, & Gini, 2016;G. Smith, Sochor, & Karlsson, 2017b ;Ahtela & Viitamo, 2018;Veerapanane et al., 2018), along with the availability of a "centralized booking system", when needed to perform the trip (Kamargianni et al., 2016;Sochor et al., 2016). ...
World population forecasted growth, ageing population, rising urbanization and congestion levels carry several challenges inside urban mobility systems. The digitalization megatrend is reshaping lives worldwide while at the same time “Usership” is thriving along collaborative consumption. “Mobility-as-a-Service” (“MaaS”) emerges as a potential mobility disruption, in this new mobility ecosystem.
Inspired in Finland's “MaaS” ecosystem, this paper aims to propose a “Mobility as a Service Public Policy Framework” with a two-stage approach. First structuring the “MaaS” concept, looking for the core features, its relations, that leads to its reconceptualization and a topology proposal. Secondly, a public policy framework is proposed, considering the policy instruments, indicative group of stakeholders responsible and the different urban mobility management decision levels.
The authors argue that is fundamental to understand the nature of decisions which are intimately connected with the Urban Mobility system, to design and implement a coherent and effective policy framework, where the policy tools chosen to materialize policy decisions regarding “MaaS” should first consider the identification of the founding pillars of the “MaaS” concept, guiding the process of policy design accordingly.
If “MaaS” is considered a Mobility Management tool, it can constitute an opportunity to redefine public transport and its financing.
... Three articles deal with the implementation process of a D2D mobility concept. Smith et al. [82] analyze the procurement process of a Swedish public transport organization, which enables a successful bidder to act as a regional D2D mobility integrator. Their results identify seven topics, such as the allocation of responsibilities and technical integration that potential bidders consider important in creating an ecosystem. ...
... Authors Transition strategy [80]; [81] Implementation process [82]; [83]; [84] Capability to ensure security and privacy [85]; [86]; [87]; [88] A further important operant resource of D2D mobility integrators is their capability to ensure the security and privacy of ecosystem actors. Referring to the SMAll project, Callegati et al. [85] describe the most relevant weaknesses in terms of data reliability, integrity, and authenticity and propose mitigation approaches. ...
... In particular, there are no broad insights into the capability of D2D mobility integrators to manage value co-creation (i.e., the integration of resources and the exchange of service [15]), in the ecosystem. Only three articles [82][83][84] shed light on the development phase of the ecosystem. The sparsity of research into operant resource needs points to several research gaps, for example what resources are needed in various ecosystem maturation phases, what models of value co-creation are possible in each phase, and how business model transitions can be best managed. ...
Cities around the world face major mobility-related challenges, such as traffic congestion and air pollution. One primary cause of these challenges is the decision of citizens to use their private car instead of alternative mobility services such as public transport, car-sharing and bike-sharing. Technological progress offers new possibilities to address these challenges by making alternative mobility services easier and more convenient to use. This paper focuses on door-to-door (D2D) mobility integrators, which aim to offer citizens seamless D2D transport by packaging alternative mobility services. To better understand the practical barriers D2D mobility integrators face, this interdisciplinary literature review provides a holistic picture of their operand and operant resources, revealing significant gaps in our understanding of their capability to attract actors to their ecosystem and to manage value co-creation. Based on these gaps, we identify a potential avenue of future research.
... Therefore, the definition of MaaS can be factored into 3 interpretations: CM, MaaS and IMS: tation of planners" and "purchasing functions" in terms of services, which may complement PTs or even substitute private cars (Smith et al. 2017(Smith et al. , 2019UITP 2011;Smith, Hensher 2020); ■ MaaS: tends to focus on the aspects of the "service" and "integration". This description is mostly agreed by (Hietanen, 2014;Kamargianni et al. 2015;Kamargianni, Matyas, 2017;König et al. 2016); ■ IMS: tends to concentrate on "integration of various services", in terms of multimodality, information, payment, deliveries and repairs via a single application (Kamargianni et al. 2015;Mukhtar-Landgren et al. 2016). ...
... IMS mean that in one and the same service, one knits together many ways to move in the city (e.g., carsharing, bus, tram, commuter train, bike-sharing, private vehicles) while one can offer payment of and information about the modes via one and the same interface. These new mobility services contribute to an increased freedom of choice and a reduced need to own a car, especially in larger cities or metropolitan areas Kamargianni, Matyas (2017) … a user-centric, intelligent mobility distribution model in which all mobility service providers' offerings are aggregated by a sole mobility operator and supplied to users through a single digital platform Smith et al. (2017) … services that facilitate traveling from A to B by different means of transport … the services can be anything from a multimodal travel planner to a full mobility subscription. The services can also include transport of goods as a complement to personal mobility. ...
In the coming years, mobility initiatives should focus on sustainability, safety, and social equity. This can be achieved by introducing innovative transportation methods, implementing novel approaches for end-users, and optimizing the utilization of traditional modes of transport. To achieve this goal, it is essential to utilize pervasive sensing and computing technologies, along with intelligent information processing systems, to assist decision makers, managers, and transport operators. To effectively address unforeseen events and disruptions, mobility services should promptly adapt and improve their flexibility. Furthermore, these services should be adaptable to meet the unique needs and evolving demands of individuals. Current research focuses on understanding how individuals make decisions about when and where they engage in walking, driving, and travel activities. Therefore, it is important to develop reliable human mobility models in this context. Big data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are important in this context as they enable data generators to identify individual patterns and quickly adapt solutions. This paper aims to conduct a literature review on Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS), focusing on personalization, to identify gaps in current MaaS initiatives. This assessment is essential for creating inclusive, user-friendly, personalized, and customizable MaaS solutions. To conclude, the existing challenges have been addressed in comprehending the characteristics of MaaS in terms of personalization. Additionally, they have been proposed further research questions to delve deeper into this aspect.
... 23). This uncertainty has been found to stall MaaS developments [43]. A better understanding of the organizational aspects of MaaS, such as how to setup business models, distribute responsibilities, and interact with citizens, seems to be needed to advance the concept [44]. ...
... Overall, it was evident that the level of uncertainty around rural MaaS is high, and that actors are still searching for their roles in its development, diffusion, and operation (cf. [11,43]). ...
Despite a growing interest in using Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) as a tool to address rural transport problems, the question of how to organize such a concept remains unanswered. To address this knowledge gap, this article explores organizational elements of rural MaaS pilots. The analysis, which is based on participatory observation and interviews with actors involved in five pilots in rural areas of Sweden, reveals that the motives of the actors involved in rural MaaS both overlap with and diverge from the frequently stated objectives of urban MaaS developments. Both concepts center on complementing and extending public transport, but while urban MaaS is underpinned by the fight against climate change, congestion, and local pollution, the main objective of rural MaaS is to reduce transport poverty. The analysis, moreover, illustrates that despite the geographic differences, actors involved in rural MaaS pilots face similar organizational challenges as have been reported from urban MaaS developments. In both cases, actors struggle with finding their roles, mitigating uncertainties, distributing responsibilities, and negotiating business models. Finally, the analysis finds that rural MaaS puts higher expectations on user involvement than urban MaaS and identifies a risk that rural MaaS developments might contribute to spatial injustice since the studied pilots only supported rural communities with high social capital.
... A universally agreed definition of MaaS is yet to emerge (Smith, Sochor, & Karlsson, 2017). Based on a comprehensive review of academic studies and industry reports, we adopt the following definition from Vij, Ryan, Sampson, and Harris (2020a), that builds on previous definitions forwarded by, among others, Kamargianni et al. (2016), König et al. (2016), MaaS Alliance (2017) and Shaheen, Cohen, Yelchuru, Sarkhili, and Hamilton (2017): ...
Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) offers consumers access to multiple transport modes and services, owned and/or operated by different mobility service providers, through an integrated digital platform for planning, booking and payment. The platform provider needs to negotiate independent deals with different transport operators. Consequently, the success of any MaaS platform will depend on the platform provider’s ability to persuade as many operators as possible to join their platform. This study examines the commercial value proposition of MaaS from the perspective of existing transport operators. We find that MaaS could help strengthen complementary relationships between services, offer operators access to newer customers and larger markets, and help them manage their assets more efficiently. However, integration with substitutive services could undermine operators’ profitability. Moreover, similar benefits could be realised through other information and communication technologies without requiring integration with other services. Consequently, if left to the market, integration between operators is likely to be piecemeal and ad-hoc, and may strengthen monopolistic power of some operators. This, alongside the opportunities that MaaS presents to help achieve broader societal goals, calls for an active role for governments in the development, operation and regulation of MaaS to deliver on the vision of a fully integrated transport system.
... In essence, critical issues for the development of MaaS include a cross-sector collaboration and new public-private partnerships, the allocation of responsibilities (e.g., ownership and governance, service design, technical integration), the establishment of a common vision, the identification of the right target groups and customer needs as well the challenge of changing traveling behaviors away from driving, the development of open technological architecture, and the design of new business models that are viable in the long-term [3,11,23,24]. Despite the popularity of the term MaaS among practitioners, the increased attention from researchers, the always increasing pressure for sustainability in the transport sector, and the trend of digitalization in the background, only a handful of MaaS trials have been successful. ...
The last decade has brought the transport sector to the forefront of discussions on sustainability and digital innovations: practitioners, researchers, and regulators alike have witnessed the emergence of a wide diversity of shared mobility services. Based on a longitudinal case study of a regional Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) ecosystem in Sweden, constituted of a document analysis and 24 semi-structured interviews with 18 representatives from regional authorities, mobility service providers, and other stakeholders from the public and private sectors, this study examines the co-existing and competing institutional logics at play, identified as State logic, Market logic, Sustainability logic, Experimental logic, and Service logic. The analysis reveals that these institutional logics pertain to tensions in the collaboration within the ecosystem’s stakeholders in terms of: (1) finding a common vision and scope for MaaS, (2) establishing a sustainable business model, (3) triggering a behavioral change regarding car travel, (4) being able to find one’s role within the project and to consequently collaborate with other stakeholders, and (5) managing uncertainty through testing and experimenting innovative solutions, which ultimately yielded key learnings about MaaS and the shared mobility ecosystem and its stakeholders. These case study findings, based on an institutional logics framework, provide a novel perspective on emerging ecosystems, from which implications for MaaS developers and further research on shared mobility are drawn.
... After a period of inactivity (characterised by external criticism and internal indecisiveness), VGR/VT commenced a dialogue with potential suppliers in spring 2016 in order to understand what procurement terms would be appropriate. The interest in bidding on the procurement was large, but it also became evident during the dialogue that neither VGR/VT nor the potential bidders had sufficient knowledge and experience of MaaS to allow for a fruitful procurement process (Smith et al., 2017;2019b). The procurement process was therefore cancelled. ...
Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is a digital concept that centres on integrating traditional public transport offerings with other types of mobility services such as carsharing and ridesourcing. In recent years, MaaS has become a much discussed topic within the public transport industry since proponents of the concept argue that its rise will disrupt the current role of public transport authorities and increase the attractiveness of public transport. This chapter aims to provide an overview of what MaaS is and what its prospective diffusion could imply for public transport authorities and public transport systems. To do so, a definition of MaaS is first introduced, followed by a brief review of expectations on how MaaS could influence traditional public transport. A framework that describes different pathways to governing MaaS developments is introduced next, and is subsequently used to analyse and discuss how public transport authorities in Finland, Sweden, and Norway have approached MaaS thus far. The chapter ends with a few recommendations on how governments can support and shape MaaS developments, based on the experience to date.
The term mobility has different meanings in the following science disciplines. In economics, mobility is the ability of an individual or a group to improve their economic status in relation to income and wealth within their lifetime or between generations. In information systems and computer science, mobility is used for the concept of mobile computing, in which a computer is transported by a person during normal use. Logistics creates by the design of logistics networks the infrastructure for the mobility of people and goods. Electric mobility is one of today’s solutions from an engineering perspective to reduce the need of energy resources and environmental impact. Moreover, for urban planning, mobility is the crunch question about how to optimize the different needs for mobility and how to link different transportation systems. In this publication we collected the ideas of practitioners, researchers, and government officials regarding the different modes of mobility in a globalised world, focusing on both domestic and international issues.
Findings from the «Future of Mobility Roundtable» at the 51st St. Gallen Symposium 2022.
The growing pressure on urban passenger transport systems has increased the demand for new and innovative solutions to increase its efficiency. One approach to tackle this challenge has been the slow but steady shift towards shared mobility services (car-, bike-sharing etc.). Building on these new modes and the developments in information and communication technologies, the concept of “Mobility as a Service” (MaaS) has recently come to light and offers convenient door-to-door transport without the need to own a private vehicle. The term Mobility as a Service (MaaS) stands for buying mobility services based on consumer needs instead of buying the means of mobility. In recent years, various MaaS schemes have been arisen around the world. The objective of this paper is to review these newly existing mobility services and develop an index to evaluate the level of mobility integration for each based on the assumption that higher level of integration is more appealing to travellers. The review presented in this paper allows a comparison among the schemes and provides the background and the key points of MaaS systems that the research community could use for designing surveys. It also provides significant insights to transport operators and authorities on the elements they should take into account to apply an attractive MaaS scheme that could effectively shift demand away from private vehicles.
As a matter of fact, the transport sector is one of the biggest carbon-emitting sectors, and one of the major goals of every community is to reduce traffic-based emissions, so it is necessary to implement sustainable mobility solutions not only on the city level but also to the apartment complex level. That sounds compulsory, but nearly 80 % of all trips by citizens per day start or end at home,5 the place of living is therefore essential for a sustainable mobility management. The choice of your personal mean of transport does not only influence your personal health; it has an impact on the living standards and carbon footprint of the whole city too.
Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) as an emerging key concept offers a new perspective on how to organise and implement mobility service concepts in the future. However, the path to that future is not clear. In some countries there already exists a more sophisticated notion of MaaS, but many countries do not yet consider MaaS in national/regional and/or local mobility planning strategies. As a step in easing the way forward, this paper presents stakeholders’ perspectives on and expectations for MaaS. In the context of the international MaaSiFiE (Mobility as a Service for Linking Europe) project, a state-of-the-art survey has been conducted, including a stakeholder questionnaire gathering different views of MaaS as input for developing a roadmap for MaaS deployment. The questionnaire results include relevant modes and service features, spatial and temporal appraisals, as well as potential impacts, enablers and barriers. European stakeholders’ viewpoints are highlighted.
The concept of Mobility as a Service or MaaS has been proposed as feasible way to achieve more sustainable transport. One example of such a service is UbiGo, a broker service for everyday urban travel developed and evaluated within the Go:Smart project in Gothenburg, Sweden. This paper presents evidence of travel behavior and related changes from a six-month field operational test (FOT), during which 195 participants tested the new service. Based on participant questionnaires, interviews, and travel diaries, change-enabling service attributes are identified, including the ‘transportation smorgasbord’ concept, simplicity, improved access and flexibility, and economy. Although not a service attribute per se, the FOT also enabled the trialability of new behaviors and a reevaluation of convenience. Additionally, the broader implications of the FOT findings on understanding travelers’ new choices and behaviors are discussed in terms of the future design of MaaS. Service design and demand are not independent of each other, and if a mobility service is to change behavior (i.e. achieve impact) as well as create added value, these goals need to drive design decisions and a deliberate, conscious development of service dimensions such as customization, bundling, and range of the offer. Based on the experiences gained, the authors emphasize a more holistic and flexible perspective on mobility (and design perspective on mobility services) that is focused on serving users’ needs, and that involves capitalizing on synergies between public and private actors, in order to develop the MaaS ‘offer’ and better meet the urban mobility challenge ahead.
UITP's strategy for the urban public transport sector, called PTx2 invites public transport operators and organizing authorities to deliver lifestyle services to become the mode of choice for citizens. It is important to build intermodal strategic alliances with combined mobility services, such as taxis, bicycles, and car-sharing to become true mobility providers and develop a wider-reaching mobility solution for customers. Combined Mobility in the various forms of car-sharing, taxis and shared taxis, the bicycle and self-service bicycle hire systems, car-pooling, and demand-respond transport can act as add-on services to the classic, fixed line, and timetable-bound public transport services and play a key role in meeting these needs.
If you listed the blockbuster products and services that have redefined the global business landscape, you'd find that many of them tie together two distinct groups of users in a network. Case in point: The most important innovation in financial services since World War II is almost certainly the credit card, which links consumers and merchants. The list would also include newspapers, HMOs, and computer operating systems-all of which serve what economists call two-sided markets or networks. Newspapers,for instance, bring together subscribers and advertisers; HMOs link patients to a web of health care providers and vice versa; operating systems connect computer users and application developers. Two-sided networks differ from traditional value chains in a fundamental way. In the traditional system, value moves from left to right: To the left of the company is cost; to the right is revenue. In two-sided networks, cost and revenue are both to the left and to the right, because the "platform" has a distinct group of users on each side. The platform product or service incurs costs in serving both groups and can collect revenue from each, although one side is often subsidized. Because of what economists call "network effects," these platform products enjoy increasing returns to scale, which explains their extraordinary impact. Yet most firms still struggle to establish and sustain their platforms. Their failures are rooted in a common mistake: In creating strategies for two-sided networks, managers typically rely on assumptions and paradigms that apply to products without network effects. As a result, they make many decisions that are wholly inappropriate for the economics of their industries. In this article, the authors draw on recent theoretical work to guide executives negotiating the challenges of two-sided networks.
This paper presents insights from a six-month field operational test (FOT) in Gothenburg, Sweden, during which 195 participants tested the UbiGo mobility service for everyday travel. The service integrates both public and private solutions into a new type of “collective transport”, thereby contributing to Swedish societal goals of a reduction of private car use and ownership. A triangulation approach to data sources and collection methods has been adopted in order to identify matches and mismatches between the expectations and experiences of three stakeholder groups: users (FOT participants/customers), commercial actors (the mobility broker and service providers), and society. Identified matches include the “transportation smorgasbord” concept, reducing private car ownership, and increased pre-trip planning. Identified mismatches relate to the greater than expected reduction in car use; the respective business models of the mobility broker and service providers; back office administration; and the smartphone platform. Gaps include the infeasibility of some trips and the need for more carsharing sites. All in all, the FOT was successful with 93% of participants satisfied with their travel and 97% wanting to continue using UbiGo. However, the mismatches and gaps need to be resolved or at least deliberated upon in order to create a commercially viable mobility service. Based on the experience gained, the authors conclude that truly “collective transport” must involve close cooperation between public and private actors, and the consideration of at least these three, sometimes conflicting, stakeholders’ perspectives in order to create integrated solutions. Furthermore, new business models are needed to address the challenges associated with future, integrated, urban mobility solutions.