Mobility-as-a-Service and changes in travel preferences and travel behaviour: a literature review (English)
Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS), a transport concept integrating various mobility services into one single digital platform, elicits high expectations as a means of providing customised door-to-door transport solutions. To date, the frequent claims about the positive contributions MaaS will make towards achieving sustainability goals rely on a scattering of limited yet insightful research findings. Many research questions remain unanswered, however. Are people willing to accept MaaS as a new transport service (on a daily basis)? The KiM Netherlands Institute for Transport Policy Analysis looked for answers by means of an extensive research program.
Results
In the initial exploratory phase of the research, KiM conducted an extensive literature review. The findings are presented in the report, ‘Mobility-as-a-Service and changes in travel preferences and travel behaviour: a literature review’.
The literature review revealed the following:
- MaaS could provide enough added value to allow certain groups of travellers to consider adopting it.
- Young to middle-aged people residing in urban areas are likely to be the first group to switch to MaaS from the more traditional mobility paradigm.
- Nevertheless, there remains high demand for autonomy, flexibility and reliability, prerequisites for adopting MaaS.
- MaaS is more likely to be adopted if it is economically feasible for households, and if prices are justified by a clear added value. Such added value could be provided via attractive service designs and high levels of integration.
Current literature only provides limited quantified indications about who the early adopters might be, and no quantification about the extent to which shifts in travel behaviour could occur. The extent to which MaaS will be adopted and instigate changes in travel behaviour within the wider population is also uncertain.
KiM follow-up research
Many people quickly expressed excitement about the potential impacts of MaaS, yet thus far its positive contributions to environmental and social sustainability (among others) are not guaranteed.
Further research about the adoption of MaaS and decisions within MaaS is desired, especially on the quantitative side. KiM, in its follow-up MaaS research, will quantitatively assess the potential MaaS offers to various population groups.