MaaS app Whim ‘to cover 60 countries in next five years’

Whim, the Mobility as a Service (MaaS) app which gives users access to transport packages on a pay-as-you-go or monthly subscription basis, has announced ambitious growth plans. “Within the next five years, we want to cover 60 countries,” Whim co-founder Kaj Pyyhtia (pictured) told ITS International. At present Whim, which is owned by MaaS Global, is available in just two countries, but Pyyhtia insists the target is achievable. The service was launched in Birmingham, UK, last week, to cover the
April 9, 2018 Read time: 2 mins

8727 Whim, the Mobility as a Service (MaaS) app which gives users access to transport packages on a pay-as-you-go or monthly subscription basis, has announced ambitious growth plans. “Within the next five years, we want to cover 60 countries,” Whim co-founder Kaj Pyyhtia (pictured) told ITS International. At present Whim, which is owned by MaaS Global, is available in just two countries, but Pyyhtia insists the target is achievable.

The service was launched in Birmingham, UK, last week, to cover the West Midlands region, and has been running for two years in Helsinki, Finland. It is due to launch in Antwerp, Belgium, covering the Flanders area, shortly.

Pyyhtia says the company has been investigating possibilities for Whim in other UK cities as well as Berlin and Munich in Germany, Vienna in Austria, Montreal in Canada, and Singapore.

It models itself on mobile phone companies, offering consumers the use of buses, trams, trains, bikes, taxis and hire cars, depending on the package they choose.

In addition to pay-as-you-go, Whim offers monthly fees of £99 (for unlimited public transport with taxis and car hire) and £349 (unlimited public transport, all taxi rides within a three-mile radius of your location and up to 30 days’ car hire per month).

MaaS Global is initially looking to sign up 500 people to the scheme in Birmingham.

The company temporarily installs a three-storey house the size of a parking space at its launches, to illustrate to consumers what can be achieved when cars are removed from the streets.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • MaaS Alliance officially established
    June 7, 2016
    Launched at the ITS World Congress in Bordeaux last October, the MaaS Alliance, a public-private partnership has been officially established as an independent organisation in Brussels. This first meeting in Glasgow is the opportunity to kick off the four working groups’ activities, Single market, End user perspective, Legal framework and Technical and to set a plan for further development of the Alliance. The Mobility as a Service (MaaS) topic itself is heavily represented at this year’s ITS European
    Read More
  • Huawei gets on board with Moovit app
    October 19, 2020
    Chinese telecoms giant’s AppGallery has 465 million monthly users, company says
    Read More
  • Go Denver opens up a world of seamless mobility and better data-driven decisions
    June 5, 2017
    Denver’s pioneering Go Denver mobility-as-a-service app has attracted 7,000 users in a matter of months. Geoff Hadwick heard how at ITS International’s recent conference. If Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) is ever going to work, it needs to have “one universal platform everywhere” according to Sean Mackin, former manager of parking and mobility services at the Denver transportation and mobility department and now Colorado branch manager for ABM Parking & Transportation. Speaking at the recent MaaS Market confe
    Read More
  • EU sets emissions targets to 2030, richer countries bear the burden
    July 22, 2016
    The UK’s Freight Transport Association (FTA) and FIA Europe have welcomed the European Commission’s package of measures, presented this week, to accelerate the transition to low carbon emissions in all sectors of the economy in Europe. The EU says the measures set clear and fair guiding principles to Member States to prepare for the future and keep Europe competitive. Responding to the announcement, the FTA said that the proposed measures are a step in the right direction to reducing freight carbon e
    Read More

Highlighted Content