Piecing together the puzzle ofMobility as a Service
Insights from the user and service design perspectives
Jana Sochor, Ph.D., Senior Researcher
RISE Research Institutes of Sweden& Chalmers University of Technology
Gothenburg, Sweden
jana.l.sochor@gmail.com; jana.sochor@ri.se; jana.sochor@chalmers.se

Jana Sochor – ITF Roundtable on Integrating Public Transport into MaaS, October 12, 20201

”This was a lot harder than we expected”
Why? In part, uncertainty leads to more uncertainty

Uncertainty&
loomingquestions

Pilots /implementations arelimitedEvaluations
are limited(Available)
data islimitedJana Sochor – ITF Roundtable on Integrating Public Transport into MaaS, October 12, 20202

”This was a lot harder than we expected”
Why? In part, underestimating complexities, linked to a lack of practical experience

An eager, but naïve, technology-driven approach –“if you build it, they will come”
Customer segment?

Jana Sochor – ITF Roundtable on Integrating Public Transport into MaaS, October 12, 2020

Modes? Bundle?

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”This was a lot harder than we expected”
Why? In part, underestimating complexities, linked to a lack of practical experience

A more systematic approach – the ”user” in a societal context
Geographic context

Family / household context

Service & org. context(Value proposition)

Societal, legal &regulatory contexts

Service design
Business models &(perceived) opportunities
Interpretation of regulations
Organizational goals
Collaboration…

Trends and norms
TaxationTransportation-related
policies e.g. parking
Urban planning andland-use policies…

?

Infrastructure &mode accessCosts of living
Weather…

Financial resources(Mode) ownership
Abilities
Knowledge, habits
StressIdentity, values
Competing needs…

Jana Sochor – ITF Roundtable on Integrating Public Transport into MaaS, October 12, 20204

Implementing Mobility as a Service is complex
IRIMS analytical framework to identify institutional factors (enablers and barriers) affecting the development and implementation of MaaS

Jana Sochor – ITF Roundtable on Integrating Public Transport into MaaS, October 12, 2020

Reference: Karlsson et al. (2020).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2019.09.028

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Aligning the user, business and societal perspectives

Users

Maximizing matches, minimizing mismatches, identifying gaps. What trade-offs are acceptable and who decides?

Developing MaaS services (& offers) that can meet users’ needs
and add value, while promoting societal goals. For example:
Users (needs/motives)

Service(offer)People who primarily walk and bike, low costs
Multi-modals who use cars semi-frequently
or people looking to access cars
Households looking to downsize, economize,
etc.
Households with limited or no access to a public
offer
Everyone

Jana Sochor – ITF Roundtable on Integrating Public Transport into MaaS, October 12, 2020

Business

SocietySocietal goals?
?

Avoid inducing demand for less sustainable
modes

?
?

Reduce the number of private cars
(selling the secondary or primary car)?

Improve occupancy and utilization rates;
increase sharing; shift towards more sustainable
modes

Offset car purchases

Improve access to the nearest public offer
AND/OR increase sharing e.g. P2P

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Adopting an innovation (product or service) is a process
The process is easily disrupted, and users need support throughout this process. (In fact, innovation is a process many organizations need to undertake too.)

Knowledge – Persuasion – Decision – Acclimatization – Normalization – Confirmation
The (potential) adopter evaluates the innovation based on e.g.
relative advantage, complexity, trialability, observability, etc.
Remember what is being asked of (potential) MaaS users.
– understand a new service concept in general (MaaS), as of now largely unobservable and untestable– understand a specific manifestation of MaaS with a specific, detailed service offer (Service X)– reflect on one’s transport needs and use (probably for the first time)– estimate how well Service X may or may not match one’s needs and use(note that transportation use patterns may change due to using the service)– decide whether or not to risk becoming a customer at all, let alone decide how much one is willing to pay(note that this may entail dealing with a new service’s ”growing pains”)– undertake behavioral change (learning to use a new service, test new behaviors and potentiallyreorganize one’s life and use of transport– get everyone on board and coordinate all this with one’s household and extended family
How can we support their change process?
Jana Sochor – ITF Roundtable on Integrating Public Transport into MaaS, October 12, 2020

References: Rogers (2003) &Strömberg (2015).

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What do we know about MaaS and its users?
Not enough, and even less based on empirical studies. We need to change that to facilitate learning from each other’s experiences and leapfrogging.

It is the relative advantage of MaaS that must be considered, rather than specific socio-demographics ormode-use characteristics. MaaS must be perceived as better in some way(s), proportionate to the costs(e.g. money, effort) compared to the user’s current solution (i.e., relative advantage will differ from user to user).

What users want/like/are motivated by, and what MaaS service design attributes have proved advantageous…
– Tailored solutions to daily challenges/customization– The transportation smorgasbord (selection)– Make it easy to test new options (trialability)– Improved access– A safe, secure, pleasant, comfortable, convenient trip
– Convenience, flexibility– Minimize stress and uncertainty– Simplicity and ease of use– Economy, price-worthiness– Curiosity
But MaaS cannot be perceived as…
– More expensive (without enough other added value)– More inflexible, inconvenient, or inaccessible (“too far away” from infrastructure, needing multiple car seats)– Too difficult to understand and use, e.g.
learning how to be a customer incl. onboarding, to use the app, to access vehicles– Incomplete in some way, e.g. inadequate range of modes, app functionalities, or service features
Can MaaS lead to more sustainable travel behavior?
Yes, but it will depend on the service design and offer, as well as on changes in a wide range of public policies
Jana Sochor – ITF Roundtable on Integrating Public Transport into MaaS, October 12, 20208

A few additional questions for decision makers to ponder
How can we better incorporate the user perspective throughout the MaaS process(development, implementation, and use), e.g. other tools or methods?

How can we better support users throughout the adoption process,including trialing new modes and behaviors?
How do we make private/non-shared/fossil-fueled car ownership and use
relatively less advantageous?
How can we encourage and incentivize more sustainable travel behaviors for both those who are
already relatively more sustainable and those who are still relatively less sustainable?
– via service design, via urban planning, via public policy, etc.

How can we ensure thorough evaluations of MaaS so that we all learn more about
what works where and why?
– with enough people, over long enough time, in various geographical and legislative/regulatory
contexts– about traveler behavior, sustainability impacts, service design, conflicts and trade-offs between
perspectives and types of sustainability, etc.
Jana Sochor – ITF Roundtable on Integrating Public Transport into MaaS, October 12, 20209

Some of the Gothenburg “MaaS” team…

Thank you!
Jana Sochor, Ph.D.

Senior Researcher
RISE Research Institutes of Sweden& Chalmers University of Technology
Gothenburg, Sweden
jana.l.sochor@gmail.com
jana.sochor@chalmers.se; jana.sochor@ri.se
Currently: SEAMLESS (PI), LIMA Evaluation WP leader
Previously: UbiGo Gothenburg pilot, IRIMS, MaaSiFiE, MaaS Baseline, IMOVE, KOMPIS, etc.

Examples of MaaS implementation and research projects in Sweden
Go:Smart / UbiGo pilot (B2C)
LIMA (MaaS for employers and employees)
MoJo (MaaS for employees)
EC2B at BRF Viva (MaaS integrated into housing)
Linköping MaaS (city-wide MaaS)
DalMaaS (rural MaaS)
KomILand (rural MaaS)
Jana Sochor – ITF Roundtable on Integrating Public Transport into MaaS, October 12, 2020

IRIMS (institutional conditions, barriers and enablers)
KOMPIS (Swedish roadmap + pilot support + evaluation framework)
SEAMLESS (meta-analysis of pilot/service data)
MaaS Baseline (assessing customer potential in Sweden)
MaaSiFiE (European roadmap, CEDR)IMOVE (unlocking large-scale access, EU H2020)
Stronger Combined (MaaS in rural areas in the North Sea Region, Interreg)
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MaaS RESOURCES – JOURNALS & BOOK CHAPTERS• Smith, G., Sochor, J., Karlsson, I.C.M. (2020) “Intermediary MaaS Integrators: A Case Study on Hopes and Fears”, Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 131, pp. 163-177.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2019.09.024• Karlsson, I.C.M., Mukhtar-Landgren, D., Smith, G., Koglin, T., Kronsell, A., Lund, E., Sarasini, S., Sochor, J. (2020) “Development and Implementation of Mobility-as-a-Service – A Qualitative Studyof Barriers and Enabling Factors”, Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 131, pp. 283-295. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2019.09.028• Smith, G., Sarasini, S., Karlsson, I.C.M., Mukhtar-Landgren, D., Sochor, J. (2019) ”Governing Mobility-as-a-Service: Insights from Sweden and Finland”. In: The Governance of Smart
Transportation Systems: Towards New Organizational Structures for the Development of Shared, Automated, Electric and Integrated Mobility, M. Finger and M. Audouin (Eds.), Cham:
Springer, pp. 169-188. ISBN Print 978-3-319-96525-3, Online 978-3-319-96526-0. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96526-0_9• Smith, G., Sochor, J., and Karlsson, I.C.M. (2019) “Public-private innovation: barriers in the case of mobility as a service in West Sweden”. Public Management Review, 21(1), pp. 116-137.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2018.1462399• Sochor, J., Arby, H., Karlsson, I.C.M., Sarasini, S. (2018) “A topological approach to Mobility as a Service: A proposed tool for understanding requirements and effects and aiding policy
integration”. Research in Transportation Business and Management, 27, pp. 3-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rtbm.2018.12.003• Strömberg, H., Karlsson, I.C.M., Sochor, J. (2018) “Inviting Travelers to the Smorgasbord of Sustainable Urban Transport: Evidence from a MaaS Field Trial”. Transportation, 45(6), pp. 1655-1670.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-018-9946-8• Smith, G., Sochor, J., Sarasini, S. (2018) ”Mobility as a Service: Comparing Developments in Sweden and Finland”. Research in Transportation Business and Management, 27, pp. 36-45.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rtbm.2018.09.004• Smith, G., Sochor, J., Karlsson, I.C.M. (2018) “Mobility as a Service: Development scenarios and implications for public transport”. Research in Transportation Economics 69, pp. 592-599.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.retrec.2018.04.001• Sochor, J., Karlsson, I.C.M., Strömberg, H. (2016) “Trying Out Mobility as a Service: Experiences from a Field Trial and Implications for Understanding Demand”. In Transportation Research
Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2542, Vol. 4, pp. 57-64, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Washington, D.C.
http://dx.doi.org/10.3141/2542-07• Strömberg, H., Rexfelt, O., Karlsson, I.C.M., Sochor, J. (2016). ”Trying on Change –Trialability as a Change Moderator for Sustainable Travel Behaviour”, Travel Behavior and Society, Vol. 4, pp.
60-68. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tbs.2016.01.002• Karlsson, I.C.M., Sochor, J., Strömberg, H. (2016) “Developing the ‘Service’ in Mobility as a Service: Experiences from a Field Trial of an Innovative Travel Brokerage”, In Transportation Research
Procedia, Vol. 14, pp. 3265-3273. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.trpro.2016.05.273• Sochor, J., Strömberg, H., and Karlsson, I.C.M. (2015). ”Implementing Mobility as a Service: Challenges in Integrating User, Commercial, and Societal Perspectives”. In Transportation Research
Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2536, Vol. 4, pp. 1-9, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Washington, D.C.
http://dx.doi.org/10.3141/2536-01• Sochor, J., Strömberg, H., and Karlsson, I.C.M. (2015). ”The Added Value of a New, Innovative Travel Service: Insights from the UbiGo Field Operational Test in Gothenburg, Sweden”. In:
Internet of Things Infrastructures, IoT 2014, LNICST 151. pp. 169-175, R. Giaffreda et al. (Eds.), New York: Springer. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19743-2_26

Evaluation of MaaS

MaaS RESOURCES – THESES, REPORTS AND WORKING PAPERS• Karlsson, I.C.M., Akram, A., Sarasini, S., Zhao, X. (2020) Kombinerad mobilitet – Ett ramverk för utvärdering av ekologiska, ekonomiska och sociala effekter av kombinerade mobilitetstjänster.
• Smith, G. (2020) Making Mobility-as-a-Service: Towards Governance Principles and Pathways, PhD Dissertation, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.
https://research.chalmers.se/publication/516812/file/516812_Fulltext.pdf• MAASiFiE project funded by CEDR http://www.vtt.fi/sites/maasifie/results (downloadable deliverables and webinar link+pdf) including:
Deliverable 2: European MaaS Roadmap 2025.
Deliverable 3: Business and operator models for MaaS
Deliverable 4: Impact Assessment of MaaS.
Deliverable 5: Technology for MaaS
• Mukthar-Landgren, D., Karlsson, M., Koglin, T., Kronsell, A., Lund, E., Sarasini, S., Sochor, J. & Wendle, B. (2016) Institutional conditions for integrated mobility services (IMS). Towards a framework
for analysis. K2 Working paper 2016:16. http://www.k2centrum.se/sites/default/files/fields/field_uppladdad_rapport/
institutional_conditions_for_integrated_mobility_services_ims_wp_2016-16_1.pdf
Jana Sochor – ITF Roundtable on Integrating Public Transport into MaaS, October 12, 2020

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MaaS RESOURCES - REFERREED CONFERENCES (selected)

Evaluation of MaaS

• Karlsson, I.C.M., Akram, A., Fallahi, S., Sarasini, S., Zhao, X. (2019), ”A National Approach to Assessing the Impacts of Mobility-as-a-Service”, 2nd International Conference on
Mobility as a Service (Tampere, Finland, December 3-4, 2019).
• Smith, G., Sochor, J., Karlsson, I.C.M. (2019) “Adopting Mobility-as-a-Service: An empirical analysis of end-users’ behavior and perspectives”.
2nd International Conference on Mobility as a Service (Tampere, Finland, December 3-4, 2019).
• Sochor, J., Sundqvist, R., Lindahl, A. (2018) ”Potential Customers of MaaS: A Swedish Baseline”.
25th World Congress on Intelligent Transportation Systems (Copenhagen, September 17-21, 2018).
• Eckhardt, J., Aapaoja, A., Nykänen, L., Sochor, J., Karlsson, M. (2018) ”The European Roadmap 2025 for Mobility as a Service”.
7th Transport Research Arena TRA 2018 (Vienna, April 16-19, 2018).
• Sarasini, S., Sochor, J., Arby, H. (2017) “What characterises a sustainable MaaS business model?”.
1st International Conference on Mobility as a Service (Tampere, Finland, November 28-29, 2017).
• Nykänen, L., Eckhardt, J., Aapaoja, A., Sochor, J., Karlsson, M. (2017) ”The European Roadmap 2025 for MaaS”.
1st International Conference on Mobility as a Service (Tampere, Finland, November 28-29, 2017).
• Sochor, J., Arby, H., Karlsson, I.C.M. (2017) “The topology of Mobility as a Service: A tool for understanding effects on business and society, user behavior, and technologicalrequirements”. 24th World Congress on Intelligent Transportation Systems (Montreal, October 29-November 2, 2017).
• Smith, G., Sochor, J., Karlsson, I.C.M. (2017) “Procuring Mobility as a Service: Exploring dialogues with potential bidders in West Sweden”.
24th World Congress on Intelligent Transportation Systems (Montreal, October 29-November 2, 2017).
• Aapaoja, A., Eckhardt, J., Nykänen, L., Sochor, J. (2017) “MaaS service combinations for different geographical areas”.
24th World Congress on Intelligent Transportation Systems (Montreal, October 29-November 2, 2017).
• Karlsson, M., Koglin, T., Kronsell, A., Mukthar-Landgren, D., Lund, E., Sarasini, S., Smith, G., Sochor, J. & Wendle, B. (2017) “Mobility-as-a-Service: A Tentative Framework forAnalysing Institutional Conditions”. 45th European Transport Conference (Barcelona, October 4-6, 2017).
• Sochor, J. and Sarasini, S. (2017) “More than the sum of its parts? The Finnish Public’s Perspectives on Mobility as a Service and ITS”.
12th European Congress on Intelligent Transportation Systems (Strasbourg, June 19-22, 2017).
• Eckhardt, J., Aapaoja, A., Nykänen, L., Sochor, J. (2017) “Mobility as a Service business and operator models”.
12th European Congress on Intelligent Transportation Systems (Strasbourg, June 19-22, 2017).
• Sochor, J., Eckhardt, J., König, D., Karlsson, I.C.M. (2016) “Future Needs and Visions for Mobility as a Service: Insights from European Workshops”.
Proceedings of the 23rd World Congress on Intelligent Transportation Systems (Melbourne, October 10-14, 2016).
• König, D., Sochor, J., Eckhardt, J., Böhm M. (2016) “State-of-the-art survey on stakeholders’ expectations for Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS)”.
Proceedings of the 23rd World Congress on Intelligent Transportation Systems (Melbourne, October 10-14, 2016).
• Sochor, J., Strömberg, H., and Karlsson, I.C.M. (2015). ”An Innovative Mobility Service to Facilitate Changes in Travel Behavior and Mode Choice”. Proceedings of the 22ndWorld Congress on Intelligent Transportation Systems (Bordeaux, October 5-9, 2015).
• Sochor, J., Strömberg, H., and Karlsson, I.C.M. (2014). ”Travelers’ Motives for Adopting a New, Innovative Travel Service: Insights from the UbiGo Field Operational Test in
Gothenburg, Sweden”. Proceedings of the 21st World Congress on Intelligent Transportation Systems (Detroit, September 7-11, 2014).

Jana Sochor – ITF Roundtable on Integrating Public Transport into MaaS, October 12, 202012