Sustainable Mobility as a Service: Supply Analysis and Test Cases

Abstract

Urban mobility is one of the main issues in the pursuit of sustainability. The United Nations 2030 Agenda assigns mobility and transport central roles in sustainable development and its components: economic, social, and environment. In this context, the emerging concept of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) offers an alternative to unsustainable mobility, often based on private car use. From the point of view of sustainable mobility, the MaaS paradigm implies greater insights into the transport system and its components (supply, demand, and reciprocal interactions). This paper proposes an approach to the transport system aimed at overcoming the current barriers to the implementation of the paradigm. The focus is on the implications for the transport supply subsystem. The investigation method is based on the analysis of the main components of such subsystem (governance, immaterial, material, equipment) and its role in the entire transport system. Starting with the first experiences of Finnish cities, the paper investigates some real case studies, which are experimenting with MaaS, to find common and uncommon elements. From the analyses, it emerges that the scientific literature and real experiences mainly focus on the immaterial components alone. To address the challenges related to sustainable mobility, this paper underlines the need to consider all components within a transport system approach. The findings of the paper are useful in several contexts. In the context of research, the paper offers an analysis of the transport supply system from the point of view of the MaaS paradigm. In the real context, the paper offers further useful insights for operators and decision-makers who intend to increase the knowledge and skills necessary to face challenges related to the introduction of MaaS.