A new study suggests that mobility as a service (MaaS) platforms will replace 2.3bn private vehicle journeys annually by 2023, and names Helsinki, Finland the top city in the world for MaaS implementation, growth and readiness.
The report by Juniper Research sought to examine the MaaS implementation, growth and readiness of cities around the world, and to determine the scale of growth of MaaS platforms. Such platforms include multi-modal transport services, including buses, taxis, and rail, and typically incorporate on demand services resulting in a shift in the way that mobility is used.
The report ranked the top 15 cities in terms of their MaaS implementation, growth and readiness, with the top five emerging as follows:
- Helsinki, Finland
- Stockholm, Sweden
- Vienna, Austria
- Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Austin, USA
Cities in Western Europe are expected to contribute significantly to the growth of global MaaS journeys, and are expected to account for 83% of MaaS journeys across the world by 2023.
Metrics that were used to evaluate which cities belonged in the top 15 included existing and planned infrastructure, stages of deployment, and cohesion between public transport services. For this reason, many US-based cities will be slower to take up MaaS, because of the fragmented nature of state and federal transport systems.
What have the researchers said about the predictions made in the report?
Nick Maynard, who authored the research, congratulated Helsinki for its achievement in becoming the top-ranked city for MaaS. He said: “Helsinki has achieved its winning position in MaaS driven by collaboration between government and MaaS vendors. Stakeholder partnerships are fundamental to MaaS in order to develop a viable multi-modal system delivering significant cost- and time-savings to the user.”
Beyond the value of MaaS as an element of an interconnected smart city, it could also deliver benefits in terms of quality of life, with the report predicting that it could lead to time savings of 500 million hours by 2023, by delivering more efficient use of road vehicles, and minimising traffic.
