Understanding the system-level for Mobility as a Service
A framework to evaluate full-scale impacts of MaaS
Time: Thu 2022-10-27 10.00
Location: F3, Lindstedtsvägen 26 & 28, Stockholm
Video link: https://kth-se.zoom.us/j/68091873830
Language: English
Subject area: Machine Design
Doctoral student: Bhavana Vaddadi , Maskinkonstruktion (Avd.), Integrated Transport Research Lab
Opponent: Professor Jeppe Rich, Technical University of Denmark
Supervisor: Univ.lektor Anna Pernestål Brenden, Integrated Transport Research Lab, ITRL; Yusak Susilo, ; Mia Xiaoyun Zhao,
Abstract
Mobility as a Service (MaaS), as a concept, has been widely popularised and considered to hold promising potential in reducing travel-related environmental impacts and transforming our current transport system. MaaS enables intermodal travel by providing enhanced features for users to access multiple mobility services. The combination of mobility services in MaaS solutions promotes the use of public transport, active modes and shared mobility to reduce the dependency on private vehicles and provide optimal work and travel arrangements tailor-made to cater to an individual’s specific travel needs while promoting a better quality of life. While the MaaS based literature largely assumes that the service will have a positive impact on individuals and society, it is important to note that there could also be unintended rebound impacts. Additionally, the evidence regarding the same is limited to estimations based on either a small number of pilot studies or a few stated preference studies and expert speculation. While studies have been conducted on the individual, organisational and societal level aspects of MaaS variants such as user preferences, service design, business models, energy impacts, operation and management etc. there seem to be a lack of holistic understanding of the potential impacts of these services from a system-level perspective. MaaS, as a hybrid innovation with the potential to transform socio-technical systems, is a combination of several actors at the individual, organisational and societal levels interacting in a shared arena with the goal to “lock-in” this innovation into the larger society. Therefore, there is a need to not only evaluate MaaS at these three levels but also to take an integrated, holistic approach to understand the system-level impacts of MaaS. As MaaS systems are not currently operating at their full potential, this thesis evaluates two real- life small-scale trials of MaaS in Stockholm, Sweden at the individual, organisational and societal levels to explore the complexities of MaaS and its variant services. Using the knowledge gathered from the evaluations of the two small-scale MaaS trials, this thesis then develops a system-level framework to evaluate MaaS and its variant services by integrating the individual, organizational and societal levels using economic, environmental and social dimensions. For MaaS stakeholders involved in the development, implementation, operation and management of full-scale MaaS, this framework could act as a helpful tool in decision-making processes by highlighting the complex relationships between and within the individual, organisational and societal levels and how the decisions made at the individual, organisational and societal levels could impact each other.