Transportation as a Service

Transportation-as-a-Service (TaaS), also known as Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS), describes a shift away from personally owned modes of transportation and towards mobility solutions that are consumed as a service. This is enabled by combining transportation services from public and private transportation providers through a unified gateway that creates and manages the trip, which users can pay for with a single account. Users can pay per trip or a monthly fee for a limited distance. The key concept behind MaaS is to offer both the travelers and goods mobility solutions based on the travel needs. MaaS is not limited to individual mobility; the approach can be applied to movement of goods, as well – particularly in urban areas.

This shift is fueled by a myriad of innovative new mobility service providers such as ride-sharing and e-hailing services, bike-sharing programs, and car-sharing services as well as on-demand "pop-up" bus services. On the other hand, the trend is motivated by the anticipation of self-driving cars, which put in question the economic benefit of owning a personal car over using on-demand car services, which are widely expected to become significantly more affordable when cars can drive autonomously.

This shift is further enabled by improvements in the integration of multiple modes of transport into seamless trip chains, with bookings and payments managed collectively for all legs of the trip. In London, commuters use the Oyster card, a contactless payment bank card, to pay for their travel. Between the multiple modes, trips, and payments, data is gathered and used to help people’s journeys become more efficient. In the government space, the same data allows for informed decision-making when considering improvements in regional transit systems. Public transport scheduling and the spending of consumer dollars can be justified by obtaining and analyzing data based around modern urban mobility trends.

Travel planning typically begins in a trip planner. For example, a trip planner can show that the user can get from one destination to another by using a train/bus combination. The user can then choose their preferred trip based on cost, time, and convenience. At that point, any necessary bookings (e.g. calling a taxi, reserving a seat on a long-distance train) would be performed as a unit. It is expected that this service should allow roaming, that is, the same end-user app should work in different cities, without the user needing to become familiar with a new app or to sign up to new services.

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Wikipedia