Digging into the technological world of Mobility-as-a-Service

By
Date: Tuesday March 12, 2019

Mobility-as-a-Service is now probably your favourite buzzword when looking up innovative trends in the mobility sector. Nowadays we are finally beginning to understand what it means exactly,  but the road to making it reality is still relatively unmapped.

When unravelling MaaS, the device and user-facing service are the most obvious; the user has an app on his or her smartphone that identifies how to get from A to B in the most convenient way. This app also takes care of the booking, the payment and provides the ticket. But what are the enabling technologies and suppliers making this all come together?

 

Some users already have access to apps that combine all transportation options, using a ‘Mobility Service Provider’ (MSP).

That MSP runs on a certain back-office. In the early days, the companies developing the app would also develop the back-office. But now, as the industry is growing, specialised companies are coming up with white label solutions that are ready to use and offer the possibility for companies to launch their own mobility app without developing it in-house.

These Mobility Service Platform Providers are themselves counting on other technology companies to provide them with services or tools to integrate payment, booking, ticketing, etc… Or they can also decide to develop those tools themselves.

But there are many other stakeholders and players that are part of the full MaaS ecosystem. We expand on and explain this ecosystem in our Mobility Suppliers Handbook, which also contains a ranking of the top 6 mobility service platform providers. Find out more here