Openness in Paying for Transport – TravelSpirit Whitepaper 7
Transport users have long sought to be able to buy transport in one purchase to cover all aspects of their end to end journey. Over the past 50 years there have been many attempts to offer users these services, but most have survived for only a short time or in restricted markets. Technology now offers many new possibilities for more widespread joint ticketing approaches. This paper reviews how opening up payment systems could overcome many of the most important barriers to enable seamless payment for transport across all modes of travel.
TravelSpirit submits evidence on MaaS to UK Parliament
TravelSpirit recommends openness in written evidence to the UK Transport Committee.
TravelSpirit submitted evidence to the Transport Committee call for evidence on Mobility as a Service last month recommending that the Committee seeks the most open implementation of MaaS possible. Only this approach will accrue the broadest economic and social benefits and ensure access for all, so that those living in rural areas, the disabled, the elderly and the poorest in society — are protected from narrow, self-interest service implementations.
Whilst there are competing definitions of exactly what MaaS comprises, Travelspirit sees that, regardless of what the end state of MaaS looks like, it needs to be based on values of:
- Universality, where integrated and connected systems provide a path to sustainable and equitable transport;
- Open innovation that rewards sharing information and solutions, to everyone’s benefit;
- Global community working to tackle mobility and transport challenges;
- Local benefit where positive change is demonstrated at a community level.
TravelSpirit Second Annual Conference
Practical approaches to embedding Mobility as a Service
26 September 2017
Our engaging and thought provoking conference brought together people from across the sectors which are part of MaaS systems including operators, data providers, local and national authorities, consultants and academics. Explore the resources available including workshop summaries and presentations.
Workshop: The role of openness in commercial collaboration
Discussion from the TravelSpirit Conference, 26 September 2017
James Datson, Transport Systems Catapult
Everyone in the transport system wants information – in increasing amounts of detail. From travellers’ expecting real time updates to their journey times to operators basing service provision on demand forecasting.
This session looked at the types of information valued by three key parts of a MaaS system; traveller, operators and transport authorities.
The workshop participants – drawn from a wide range of operators, authorities and planners – brainstormed the needs of these groups. Whilst some of this information is non-contentious, other elements are commercially sensitive. However all agreed that more open disclosure would benefit the transport system as a whole. At the end of the session the group rated how likely legislation would be needed to create openness and how likely the market would provide it spontaneously.
Workshop: Openness and paying for transport
Discussion from the TravelSpirit Conference, 26 September 2017
Derek Halden, Loop Connections and TravelSpirit UK board member
Workshop:
The technology revolution offers huge potential for connected, flexible and better travel opportunities but global companies battle for power to carve out the monopolies through which the greatest future profits could be delivered. Which company will run the default software for autonomous cars, or the ‘go to’ place to make new types transport purchase?
Smarter Travel LIVE! 2017
MKArena, Milton Keynes, 19-20 Oct
Practical Applications of Intelligent Mobility for Sustainable Towns and Cities
Smarter Travel Live! is one of the highlights of the packed 2017 innovative mobility calendar. TravelSpirit is very much on the agenda. Dr Maria Kamargianni, UCL MaaSLab, will be chairing the session on MaaS in practice, with Chris Lane from TfWM speaking about the development of Whim in the West Midlands.
#smartertravellive
Sponsored by: ATKINS | Innovate UK | SYSTRA | TS Catapult
What’s on:
- Street of the Future Exhibition – a live indoor demo of the latest products that will showcase the future of intelligent transport and street design. See more here.
- Project Showcase – discover the Smart Mobility projects that are driving progress across the UK and Europe through 80 ‘bar table’ presentations. See more here.
- Speakers – Over one hundred expert speakers to be announced over the coming weeks (see programme). Keynotes include:
- David Bragden, Chief Executive, NYC Transit Center
- Ian Meikle, Director of Infrastructure, Innovate UK
- Jesse Norman MP, Parliamentary under Secretary of State for Transport, DfT
- Paul Campion, CEO, Transport Systems Catapult
- Geoff Snelson, Strategy Director, Milton Keynes Council
- Stan Boland, CEO, FiveAI
- Karine Dognin-Sauze, Vice President, Lyon Metropolis
- Iain Forbes, Head, Centre for Connected & Autonomous Vehicles
- Philippe Crist, Project Manager, International Transport Forum at OECD
Agenda:
- Mobility as a Service
- Intelligent Mobility
- Accessibility & Integration
- Customer Experience
- Data and Applications
- Smart Ticketing
- Walking & Cycling
- Cyber Security
- EVs and EV Infrastructure
- Air Quality, Safety and Healthy Streets
PROGRAMME | SPEAKERS | EXHIBITION | TICKETS
Whitepaper 3: Autonomy: The role of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in Public Transportation and Urban Mobility for Cities
A range of autonomous vehicles (AVs), enabled by Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (RAI), are necessary for the evolution of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) as a global resource.
This white paper sets out our initial position and frames the debate around developments in autonomous mobility and how it can shape the new mobility frontier. It identifies concerns about autonomous transport solutions being developed by technologists, without a broader public policy framework. We highlight the risks that this direction of business development poses and how technology-driven innovation may present a serious threat to the vitality of our society.
International Association of Public Transport promote AVs as key enabler for MaaS
According to a new position paper from UITP, there is an opportunity to enable cities to function with 80% fewer cars, but this will only happen if AVs are introduced in fleets of driverless shared autonomous vehicles of different sizes that reinforce an efficient high capacity public transport network.
Shared fleets, integrated with traditional public transport offer the possibility of a better urban future, cutting noise and environmental pollution, improving traffic efficiency and parking and in the process liberating vast amounts of urban space for other purposes. “When 1.2m people around the world die each year in car-related deaths, 90% of which are due to human error, the road safety benefits are also significant,” said UITP Secretary General, Alain Flausch.
Public authorities must take an active role in the roll-out of AVs to ensure their shared use with measures to encourage shared mobility and limit single car occupancy (eg. road pricing or taxation) and provide ‘Mobility as a Service’ platforms (as whoever controls the platform controls travel behaviour). Trials should also begin on public roads to see how best to integrate AVs into the mobility eco-system and preparations made for the impact on employment as some driving jobs could disappear and others needing specific skills could arise.
For more information: http://www.uitp.org/autonomous-vehicles
Alstom step towards MaaS-on-rail, through acquisition of Nomad Digital
TravelSpirit Foundation ‘gold medalist’ partner, Alstom, have acquired Nomad Digital to strengthen their capability to help the rail industry migrate to Mobility as a Service. Nomad Digital employs around 230 people, and is headquartered in Newcastle (UK), with 13 offices worldwide, principally in the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, Canada, Australia and the United States. Its turnover represents more than GBP 30 million.
Nomad Digital, founded in 2002 in the United Kingdom, is a world leading provider of passenger and fleet connectivity solutions to the railway industry. Nomad Digital’s solutions include passenger WiFi, innovative Passenger Information Systems and on-board passenger portals, entertainment and media platforms. Nomad Digital’s is an ideal position to fully leverage the integration and convergence of both Rail and Information & Communications Technologies (ICT) required to enable the MaaS revolution in an industry now ripe for disruption [more detail].
For more information on the MaaS Challenge for Rail – led by our CEO, Alex Burrows please read here.