# Transport Systems and Mobility for Smart Cities
## 4 Discussion  
There is no doubt that citizens should be the main beneficiaries of new mobility services through the adoption of the concept of Mobility as a Service (MaaS). However, there is not a clear vision about the strategies, impacts, and efficiency of these new mobility services related to alternative transportation modes, namely in reducing traffic congestion without having to build new infrastructures (roads, tunnels, and light rail). Among several possible definitions, based on Helsinki's vision [17], MaaS is a smart user-centric model of the distribution of information and transportation procurement in which all transport providers are aggregated with a single mobility provider--MaaS operator--that provides services to the user through a single digital platform. MaaS represents a strong value proposition supported by the diversity of travel options and, in terms of the capabilities of the system, are characterized by trip planning, easy transactions, flexible payments, dynamic trip management, and a personalized and customized service. MaaS strategies would allow citizens to choose between public and private transport providers and would be among the fastest and cheapest ways of travelling, according to their needs, at any time. According to this concept, a mobility system would provide dynamic bus routes based on the current demands at any time. The system would also be accessible through mobile devices (e.g., smartphones) to plan and pay for trips for all types of purposes that could accomplish a diversity of travelling options: rideshare (carpooling), an on-demand bus, an automated car, or traditional public transports (buses, metro, train, among others) [18]. The adoption and implementation of MaaS would therefore trigger a new paradigm in mobility integrating several changes: (i) from mobility to accessibility; (ii) from city to the metropolitan areas; (iii) from service regulation to activity regulation (safety, quality, capability); (iv) from ownership to use; (v) from data confidentiality to the sharing of the use of the data; (vi) from subsidizing companies to subsidizing citizens; (vii) from public transport to an entire mobility system centred on public transport; (viii) to a culture of accessibility and quality of life. New mobility systems show that a set of characteristics, needs, obstacles, and user requirements, often related to sociocultural variables such as age, gender, and social class, must be studied to provide recommendations for policymakers to design an inclusive digital transport system that is integrated and equitable [19]. To achieve integrated, intelligent, inclusive, and safe mobility, a set of key factors concerning people, territory, transport systems, and digital interconnected solutions must be addressed, identified, studied, and analysed such as (i) people (sociodemographic characteristics, social and economic vulnerability, needs and digital competences concerning mobility and transportation); (ii) territory (development level, forms of administration/governance in the sector of activity, historical and political key features for urban areas); (iii) transport systems (supply and demand of all types of transportation modes and  
Figure 3: New approach to urban mobility policy. Source: Authors. their degree of social inclusiveness and digitization); (iv) digital interconnected solutions (digital innovations and their ability to respond to societal needs and expectations that can bootstrap innovative, efficient, and better transports for the urban and peri-urban areas). With inclusive, digitally-interconnected transportation, people can be active agents of territorial development and can take advantage of digitization, therefore contributing to a reduction of the tendency to depopulate rural territories and to an increase in inclusion and opportunities for all [20].