From start-ups and corporations to government bodies and membership organisations, having access to transport mobility data and being able to provide better travel services means everyone stands to benefit from Mobility-as-a-Service. There are many opportunities for all stakeholders involved. Here’s a break down of the many ways – and organisations – MaaS can improve business and service offerings.
Public Transport Authorities
Regional transport authorities have a major part to play in driving MaaS for the benefit of its citizens, shaping policy and to meet the many transportation demands placed on it. Transport Canberra and City Services (TCCS), a branch of the ACT government in Australia is already ahead with their journey planner, using SkedGo’s technology. Public Transport Authorities can deliver numerous benefits with their own MaaS offerings:
Better manage travel demands: Optimising public transport networks and developing a strategy to improve infrastructure relies on accurate citizen mobility data. Enter MaaS. Being able to pull together travel data such as when, where, how all transportation (not just public transport) is being used and by whom, allows transport planners to understand the landscape in more depth.
Reduce congestion: Busy roads, snarled with traffic are a recipe for unhappy travellers and an urban centre that’s at a standstill. Integrating multi and mixed modal routing into your app means you’ll be able to monitor heavy traffic loads and provide optimal routes where possible for citizens.
Improve air quality: Less traffic on the roads (particularly fossil fuel vehicles) will mean cleaner air for citizens and visitors. Not only does this make lives more pleasant but also reduces emissions. Public transport authorities can play a large part in helping to meet environmental targets and other government strategies and policies.
Improve health: The combination of different modes of transport can be used to encourage ‘active modes of travel such as walking and cycling’. This can help to improve citizen health, with the potential to reduce illness and improve the quality of life. MaaS offerings can incentivise those options over taking other forms of transport.
Ensuring citizen safety: There’s nothing worse than being stuck in a city (or anywhere else for that matter), walking the streets to find the best place to grab a taxi or using several, individual apps to book transport. Making sure that citizens remain safe means providing them with the travel data they need to get from A to B – especially if they’re on their own or in an area that they’re not familiar with.
Large corporate fleets
Maintaining a large corporate fleet is not only costly but also not always the most effective way for employees to travel, particularly with the increase in petrol costs and congestion charges. Implementing MaaS is the perfect way to improve travel policies:
Cut travel costs: If you have a high number of employees or several departments that do a lot of travelling then having multi and mixed modal routing integrated into an existing employee app or as a standalone solution can provide a more cost-effective way to travel. Micro journeys, the first and last mile, are often overlooked and will get more prominence. It’s important to consider these when analysing costs. Given the introduction of Clean Air Zones in some cities, they could see the cost of corporate fleets rise, putting further financial burden on the company. MaaS can help to provide more cost-effective routes to travel including ride hailing, car clubs, corporate car sharing as well as public transport.
Reduce travel fatigue: Travel can be stressful. Whether it’s busy public services or transport cancelled at the last minute, it’s both frustrating and tiring. Being able to plan, book and pay for tickets – all from one app – helps people to have some sense of control over their journeys. It means employees arrive at their destination for a business meeting less frazzled.
Free up time: There are much better ways for employees to spend their time than waiting around for transport to turn up. It’s not just a matter of arranging a car share, ride hailing service or any other combination of transport but the timing of them. People need to move quickly onto the next leg of their journey with the minimum of fuss. It’s about getting the right transport, at the right time, in the right location and at the right price. Wasted time costs the business money.
Sustainable travel: Encouraging staff to travel sustainably could strengthen the company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy, improving the reputation of the business as well as ensuring that it’s doing its bit for the environment. It also supports employees looking for more environmentally friendly ways to get to work. As part of an authentic CSR policy, it could help to attract both high calibre employees along with customers and clients to the business. This is exactly what we did for our client Optus in Australia by creating a custom app which integrates their own shuttle service.
Transport tech companies
Vehicles are getting smarter, more connected and autonomous. The Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence and the ability to aggregate big data, along with payment platforms and ticketing providers will take most of the hard work out of transportation – whether that’s people or goods. Integrating transport services and incorporating different technology platforms into a MaaS app will therefore provide a whole host of benefits as we move towards smarter cities:
Optimise routes: When self-driving vehicles know there is a congestion issue, a closed road or a problem that may impact a later leg of the journey, they can optimise for the next best route on the fly. A MaaS app can help create a new, updated trip chain. With Internet of Things (IoT) it means vehicles can be connected at all times being updated with travel data, changes to routes, and combining that efficiently with passenger intent.
On-demand services: Provide services whenever and wherever there is a need by the end user, integrating public and private transport across the whole journey integrating travel payment and data all in one app.
Better utilisation: Understand and optimise vehicle utilisation to ensure that each is operating as close to full capacity as possible. Analyse data points to see when and where utilisation is at its lowest and highest points not only making sure they have geographic coverage but also ensure that they’re readily accessible.
Member organisations
Roadside recovery organisations, such as RACV in Australia and the RAC in the UK, understand first-hand the benefit of good quality transportation data given the number of members that they rescue each year. With MaaS it can reap more benefits:
New business model: Develop new business models on the back of MaaS offerings as the number of new vehicle registration drops in many countries. Australia’s RACV is already ahead of the game, with their app arevo, created using SkedGo’s routing platform.
Value-add for members: Offer your members more with MaaS functionalities. The trend to multi-modal is growing in cities and your members will appreciate a more holistic offering that doesn’t just cover their car.
More data: Collect more data, not just on driving behaviour, but also other travel behaviour. For example how your members bridge the first mile/last mile gap, or when it is likely they leave their car at home.
Event management companies
Organisers of events have a great deal to gain from MaaS, given that people are travelling to and from different locations. We created RioGo so that visitors could make the most of the 2016 Summer Olympics and avoid being late for events or getting lost in Rio de Janeiro. It meant that users could find the events they wanted and easily plan their transport for each day. MaaS not only provides a unique service to customers, but it also provides additional benefit for the event management company as well:
Value added service: Integrating a MaaS offering could provide a competitive advantage meaning more people could book through your website or visit your events – especially when they know they can plan, book and pay within one app. Not only does it solve a pain for customers, it saves them time as well.
Complete experience: Visiting a new city or region can be stressful. By providing a complete experience from their door to the event itself, means one less hassle. Customers spend less time figuring out the best way to get to your event and more time focused on enjoying their visit and taking advantage of everything on offer.
Save customers money: Given that MaaS data can figure out the cheapest, fastest and best route, it means customers can save money. That’s more money to spend at the event. Customers will thank you for it either way.
Additional revenue: Your organisation could team up with hotels, restaurants and other local businesses. Including special offers within your app provides them with useful, timely incentives and also provides additional revenue for both the event management company and the advertiser.
At SkedGo, we provide API and white label trip planning solutions that integrate multi/mixed modal transport services, parking, book and pay features, events and itineraries. These help organisations avoid reinventing the wheel. They save money and resources because the technology is always kept up-to-date, support is provided, and it means their app is faster to market.
Contact us today to find out how we can help you.
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