Page 38 - TT July Issue for Digital Edition

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Federal Transit Administration
(FTA) began a MOD program in
2016 (called the MOD Sandbox)
that supported the demonstration
of innovation in personal mobility.
Also, the definition of MOD is
not the same as MaaS – it is
1
a bit broader: “An integrated
and connected multi-modal
network of safe, affordable,
and reliable transportation
options that are available and
accessible to all travelers.”
(https://www.transit.dot.gov/
regulations-and-guidance/
shared-mobility-definitions)
Continuing MOD
demonstrations in the US have
been funded by subsequent USDOT
and FTA programs including
There appears to be a future for MaaS, although Integrated Mobility Innovation,
it may not be called MaaS in the future and may Accelerating Innovative Mobility,
not look like the original concept. This has been Enhancing Mobility Innovation,
and Strengthening Mobility and
suggested recently by several prominent MaaS Revolutionizing Transportation
researchers and other stakeholders (e.g., it could (SMART). While MOD and MaaS
be called Mobility as a Feature). have been, at times, equated to
each other, the interest in MaaS
– Carol Schweiger in the US seems to have waned
while pilots of MOD, specifically
2
microtransit service , have been
In the US, MaaS development be the most challenging part of increasing over the past several
and deployment has been slow the application from a technology years.
despite the interest by several perspective, it seemed like basing
public transport agencies over the MaaS on a robust fare payment MaaS Challenges
past ten years. Several agencies, system would facilitate its
such as Dallas Area Rapid Transit in development and use. However, While the future of MaaS is not
Dallas, Texas; Los Angeles County over the past few years, MaaS in certain, the technical, institutional,
Metropolitan Transportation the US has not been fully deployed. fiscal, geographic and behavioral
Authority in California; and the challenges are much better
Greater Dayton Regional Transit Another factor that may have led understood through the lessons
Authority in Dayton, Ohio have to a slower development of MaaS learned over the past ten years.
developed future mobility plans in the US was the prominence of Perhaps the most comprehensive
that incorporate MaaS based Mobility on Demand (MOD) and report describing the challenges
on their automated/mobile fare funding programs to demonstrate is “Piecing Together the Puzzle:
payment systems. Given that MOD. The US Department of Mobility as a Service from the User
payment in MaaS applications can Transportation’s (USDOT’s) and Service Design Perspectives”

1 MaaS is defined by the MaaS Alliance as “Mobility as a Service (MaaS) integrates various forms of transport and transport-related services into a single, comprehensive,
and on-demand mobility service. MaaS offers end-users the added value of accessing mobility through a single application and a single payment channel (instead
of multiple ticketing and payment operations).” https://maas-alliance.eu/homepage/what-is-maas/
2
Microtransit is defined as “a technology-enabled transit service that typically uses shuttles or vans to provide pooled on-demand transportation with dynamic routing.”
SAE International JA3163™, June 2021,

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