Shared Mobility and Maas
SHARED MOBILITY
SUSTAINABLE
MOBILITY
Introduction
Shared mobility means sharing the use of any type of vehicles. Mobility as a service (MaaS) is a type of service that, through a digital channel, enables users to plan, book, and pay for different types of mobility services. These solutions encourage a shift away from owning vehicles and using them solely, and turning mobility into a real society service.
Description
In most cases, shared mobility defines a group of vehicles (cars, scooters, electrical bikes, etc.), usually electrical, owned by a company or other organisation, that can be rented for single trips by the citizens at a competitive price. This is essential as cities and companies look for alternatives to reduce the number of vehicles they use.
There are also different alternative solutions regarding shared mobility. Car-sharing or pooling is offering spare seats in our vehicles with those who are going the same way, either for a single ride or on a regular basis. Besides informal arrangements, there are several local or national platforms providing services to help matching “supply and demand”. The agreement can be based on a fee, sharing driving or free of charge depending on the offer of the car owner.
Mobility as a service scheme is closely related to energy efficiency, emissions reduction, resource- optimization, business sales increasing, better experience of visitors and quality of life of citizens. This profound transformation requires a cultural shift in the industry to share data of different transport modes to be able to integrate all possible transport modes of the city in one platform.
A citizen should be able to get informed about the transport mode options to go from one point to another, see the time needed for the travel, check general conditions, and pay all different transport modes in one application.
Main Features
- Digital payment systems
- Social networks for connecting users
- Different types of sustainable vehicles
- Integration of data of different transport modes
- Timetable, information and ticket integration
Image source: Freepik
Advantages and challenges
+ Fast and easy planning.
+ Cheaper travel due to integrated MaaS schemes, or shared vehicles.
+ Better ecological footprint related to travel, and less pollution leading to the improvement of air quality.
+ Shift of possession of private vehicle to use of common services.
+ More efficient use of vehicles and public transport.
+ Reducing transit waiting times and documentation, as well as lower costs.
+ Reducing congestion in cities.
+ Reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.
– There are not so many companies that work in this field.
– Better regulation about data sharing of different operators is needed to be able to integrate different transport modes.
– The spread of shared mobility services might require development of the infrastructure and introducing new regulations (e.g., new road traffic roads related to electric scooters).
