Last summer we certainly didn’t get bored: MaaS passionates have had the opportunity to read and share a lot of articles, written by those we consider pioneers of this topic, ready to debate on so many still open issues about Mobility as a Service. Here is a summary of what happened.
MaaS is an extremely promising phenomenon, but is still covered by numerous question marks, concerning the sustainability of the business models that will be created, or which and how many actors will be really involved in the change of mobility that awaits us.
I believe, however, that all these arguments can be considered as relevant as premature. In fact, Mobility as a Service has not yet had the adequate and necessary room and time to grow. Despite it is a topic discussed since several years in various specialized events and meetings, its effective development has begun just a couple of years ago and only in some countries – especially in Northern Europe.
This doesn’t mean that the rest of the world is far behind: lately we hear of more and more MaaS projects, aimed at studying its impacts on all the aspects involved, also in Italy with our BIPforMaaS project.
What I would like to share with you today is neither a political nor a technical topic, but it comes directly from what we have learned during this first year of the project. In fact, I have increasingly realized that in order to develop MaaS in our territory, cooperation and collaboration among all the actors involved is necessary.
But above all, TRUST is needed. Imo, this is the secret ingredient of MaaS. The mobility revolution will never happen without a high level of trust.
When I speak about Trust, I refer to multiple aspects:
- Trust in the “MaaS revolution”: how many times have we heard that MaaS will have positive impacts on the world of mobility, the environment and the travel experience of users? Honestly, I hardly see how this couldn’t happen. Why shouldn’t MaaS produce benefits for the users and the environment? On the other hand, mobility users are increasingly migrating towards digital services and indeed see the lack of a smartphone platform as obsolete and not matching their current needs. Not to mention the extraordinary opportunity that users will have moving around their territory with mobility subscription offers. By doing so, mobility demand will probably turn to shared mobility services and local public transport, and therefore mobility operators will also benefit and the climate will wink at us.
- Trust in MaaS by the actors involved: in the context of our BIPforMaaS project, we have considered crucial organizing working tables with the relevant actors involved in MaaS. We believe that collaboration may bring significant advantages in designing a MaaS ecosystem, minimizing any negative impacts that may occur. However, at the same time it is essential that all the actors involved have trust in the great MaaS opportunity they are involved in. Only this way, they will be able to enjoy the countless advantages that the MaaS revolution will bring with.
So… let’s fasten our seat belts, ready to undertake this journey together.
As in the best trips, some unexpected events may occur, but in the end the result will be great. The steps leading us to the goal will be as fundamental as necessary, always keeping the focus on the secret ingredient of MaaS: the trust. And in a few years, looking back, we will surely ask ourselves how we have done all this time without MaaS.
Have a good trip everyone!
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash