Skip to main content

European Mobility-as-a-Service Alliance launched

Twenty European organisations have joined forces to establish the first Mobility as a Service (MaaS) Alliance. This new initiative will work towards a truly European and common approach to MaaS through public and private stakeholder cooperation, providing the basis for the economy of scale needed for a successful implementation in Europe. The Alliance will be officially launched in the Finnish Pavilion (C37) at the ITS World Congress in Bordeaux on 6 October at 1300. The key concept behind MaaS is to
October 6, 2015 Read time: 3 mins
Twenty European organisations have joined forces to establish the first Mobility as a Service (MaaS) Alliance. This new initiative will work towards a truly European and common approach to MaaS through public and private stakeholder cooperation, providing the basis for the economy of scale needed for a successful implementation in Europe.

The Alliance will be officially launched in the Finnish Pavilion (C37) at the 6456 ITS World Congress in Bordeaux on 6 October at 1300.
 
The key concept behind MaaS is to put users, both travellers and goods, at the core of transport services, offering them tailor-made mobility solutions based on their individual needs. This means that, for the first time, easy access to the most appropriate transport mode or service will be included in a bundle of flexible travel service options for end users.
 
The MaaS Alliance builds upon the momentum and drive achieved during the last 438 European ITS Congress in 2014 hosted by Helsinki, where MaaS received political support from the Finnish government. “MaaS is a new approach to changing mobility markets. It relies on existing and developing transport services and has huge chance for global scaling”, says the originator of the concept Sampo Hietanen, CEO of ITS Finland.
 
According to Rasmus Lindholm, Ertico’s director of Communications and Partnership Development, MaaS has the potential to fundamentally change the behaviour of people in and beyond cities; hence it is regarded as the biggest paradigm change in transport since affordable cars came into the market.
 
Founding partners of the Mobility as a Service Alliance include Aalborg University, 4793 AustriaTech,  5650 Ericsson, 374 ERTICO – ITS Europe, Federation International de l’Automobile (FIA) Region I, Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications, Helsinki Business Hub, IRU, 6784 Connekt, 7350 ITS Finland, 5497 ITS Sweden, ITS Ukraine, MOBiNET, National Mobile Payment Plc. (Hungary), Swedish Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation, Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation (Tekes), 1466 Transport for London, Vinnova, University of Tampere and 4186 Xerox.
 
"Bundling services to simplify access to mobility is a key step to ensure the best use of all modes of transport. 8054 FIA Region I call upon the transport community to develop and combine these services based on the public’s concrete needs. In the FIA, we believe mobility must be safe, sustainable, accessible and affordable for all”, says Jacob Bangsgaard director general FIA Region I.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Co-operative infrastructure reduces congestion, increases safety
    January 30, 2012
    ITS Japan's Chairman Hiroyuki Watanabe talks to ITS International about his country's progress with cooperative infrastructures and how the experience gained to date can benefit similar initiatives elsewhere. Japan gave the rest of the world a taste of the cooperative infrastructure future when, in 1996, it went live with the Vehicle Information and Communication System (VICS). Designed to provide real-time traffic information and alerts to in-vehicle navigation systems with the dual aims of increasing safe
  • ITS for urban mobility
    October 11, 2012
    The 19th ITS World Congress is the venue for presentations on intelligent transport systems for urban areas by the European Commission’s expert group, starting at 0900 on 24 October. The day will start with a session introducing the guidelines for the deployment of key ITS applications in urban areas expert group on which has developed specific guidance for the deployment of ITS in urban areas, and in particular for the provision and organisation of multimodal information, traffic management and smart ticke
  • Investment and innovation the future of ITS
    January 31, 2012
    Cisco's Paul Brubaker, former administrator of the US Department of Transportation's (USDOT's) Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), takes a look at how the ITS sector is starting to attract the attention of major corporations and what this will mean for intelligent transportation in the coming years
  • Urban Mobility 3.0 workshop: Companies must innovate
    June 27, 2013
    More than 160 senior delegates from the automotive and transportation industry met last week to present, discuss and invent the future of mobility during Frost & Sullivan’s interactive workshop Urban Mobility 3.0: New Urban Mobility Business Models. The two-day event summarised the current and future developments in the industry and highlighted new and innovative mobility concepts. Frost & Sullivan Partner and Global Practice Director, Sarwant Singh, opened the debate at the House of Commons in London, com