ITS (UK): tells Parliament MaaS app alone is not a magic bullet

ITS (UK)’s Mobility as a Service (MaaS) Interest Group has agreed with the Transport Select Committee’s MaaS inquiry in the global and UK interest in the concept, but it must provide a high quality and reliable service to get people to use it. They added that unless done right, it could risk moving people from public transport to on-demand cars. The inquiry focused on potential barriers to MaaS and the response sought to manage expectations. The group, led by representatives from Jacobs, Cubic and Aecom,
January 5, 2018 Read time: 2 mins

ITS (UK)’s Mobility as a Service (8356 MaaS) Interest Group has agreed with the Transport Select Committee’s MaaS inquiry in the global and UK interest in the concept, but it must provide a high quality and reliable service to get people to use it. They added that unless done right, it could risk moving people from public transport to on-demand cars. The inquiry focused on potential barriers to MaaS and the response sought to manage expectations.

The group, led by representatives from Jacobs, Cubic and Aecom, stated that while there are not enough use-cases yet to analyse potential effectiveness, several UK and European pilot projects should start providing evidence soon.

When responding to question on the current barriers, the group referred to local authority resources, real-time information, and private sector motivation. It also highlighted the need for effective Government advice and regulation if a nationwide solution is to be delivered, and that modelling has shown that using MaaS solutions costs more if a user still has a private car. In addition, concerns over social exclusion were also addressed. 

However, the group recognised the opportunities of positioning the UK as a global leader in the delivery of MaaS which represents a significant change in how users access the service.

Andrew Pearce, group chair, said: “What’s clear from our work is that MaaS can have positive or negative effects – the scale and direction of the benefits is down to participation: it’s a team sport where specific contributions are needed from private sector, local and central government – if one party takes over it will fail or be distorted with unwanted effects for the network.”

Related Content

  • August 29, 2019
    Don’t drive drunk – or use a hands-free phone
    Despite law changes, drivers’ bad habits have been creeping back in. TRL’s Dr Shaun Helman tells Adam Hill why using a phone at the wheel is just as distracting as driving after a few drinks esearch from as far back as 2002 (see box) suggests that driving while making a phone call – either hands-free or holding a handset to your ear – creates the same amount of distraction as being drunk behind the wheel. While it is notoriously hard to predict how alcohol will affect an individual (due to the speed of
    Read More
  • September 4, 2018
    Getting to the point
    Cars are starting to learn to understand the language of pointing – something that our closest relative, the chimpanzee, cannot do. And such image recognition technology has profound mobility implications, says Nils Lenke Pointing at objects – be it with language, using gaze, gestures or eyes only – is a very human ability. However, recent advances in technology have enabled smart, multimodal assistants - including those found in cars - to action similar pointing capabilities and replicate these human qual
    Read More
  • April 21, 2016
    Silos are last century’s thinking
    After 45 years in transportation, Ken Philmus sees the need for major change in a sector currently ill-prepared to meet the challenge of funding and rapidly advancing technological change. Having worked in both the public and private sectors, Ken Philmus, currently senior vice president of transportation solutions at Xerox, appreciates both approaches, but times are changing and he believes the sector needs to change too. “I like trains, planes and automobiles but I love the concept of mobility and that’s w
    Read More
  • May 9, 2019
    TRL: Cities must do more to help VRUs
    UK cities must learn from the Netherlands and Denmark if active travel and increased safety for vulnerable road users are to co-exist, says TRL’s Marcus Jones Active travel’ refers to modes of transport in which physical effort is required to undertake purposeful journeys - for example, walking or cycling to school, work or the local shops, as well as walking and standing as part of accessing public transport. The benefits of replacing short car journeys with more active forms of transport are obvious. Act
    Read More

Highlighted Content