Transportation is a critical feature of any city whether urban or rural. For rural areas, it provides connectivity to the main cities. But, for the urban population, it goes beyond simply connecting to important areas. It needs to be able to facilitate the rising demands of the urban sprawl.
This is how the concept of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) has sprung up. But is it sufficient to deal with the modern challenges of modern cities?
Dive into Mobility as a Service, exploring its benefits and challenges.
Basically, it is a holistic approach to offering transportation services. In urban cities, there is a wide array of transportation methods beyond owning a personal car that are available. Converting these options such as trains, bikes, subways, and buses into a unified platform is the objective.
In this manner, users can more easily plan and pay for their journey with the help of a consolidated platform.
Benefits of Mobility as a Service
MaaS allows individuals to avail multiple benefits.
Suitable for Busy Commuters
With a single access point that can fulfill all of their needs, Maas eases the journey for users. Paying and planning for trips becomes easier as users are not hawked by multiple transportation vendors.
Lowers Cost to Users
MaaS takes all of the available public transportation options and collates them into a singular platform. This allows commuters to see which option is most economical. Beyond its cost-effectiveness, it even displays the practicality for each method, i.e. the time it will take to reach, traffic routes, and more.
Eases Traffic Congestion
Public transportation has been the solution to the ever-increasing traffic congestion issue, not adding another lane. With more people opting for mass transit due to MaaS, roads will be less congested, and the number of private vehicles will decrease.
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Drawbacks of Mobility as a Service
While there are some interesting benefits to adopting MaaS, there are some critical drawbacks as well.
Difficulty in Collaboration Between Different Providers
The biggest challenge to adopting an effective MaaS is developing a collaborative environment between different transportation vendors. Each needs to be willing to share data and more importantly, a unified platform will act as a battleground with each trying to take the most share.
Additionally, every provider has their own set of systems and regulations in place. Thus, finding a common ground to conduct operations will be difficult.
Developing Digital Infrastructure
To ensure regular connectivity, the appropriate digital infrastructure must be created and sustained. This is possible with the heavy investment of urban cities that recognize the importance of Mobility as a Service. Convincing officials and ensuring their continued support is tough.
Maintaining Data Integrity and Confidentiality
Finally, any technological innovation that involves the access to data for MNCs or the government raises concerns of data privacy. Naturally, if a large number of people adopt MaaS, then it is a large database for cybercriminals to attack.
So, maintaining secure data management by protecting the information of the individuals.
