Impact of Combined Travel Modes for Carless Users: An approach to Beijing MaaS Platform

Abstract

To investigate the impact of combined travel modes in the MaaS system on the travel behavior of heterogeneous carless users, this study establishes individual utility functions for such users. It utilizes a multi-agent simulation model to study one-to-one commuting mode choices in MaaS systems with and without combined travel modes. The study presents a real travel plan scenario recommended by the Beijing MaaS platform, examining the travel preferences of heterogeneous carless users and the changes in operator revenue under two recommendation scenarios. In scenarios with combined travel mode recommendations, carless users with a high value of time tend to prefer combined modes (ride-hailing + subway) due to higher travel utility and shorter travel times. In scenarios without combined modes, carless users lean towards single-mode public transportation. Government recommendations include developing a comprehensive travel system policy and using carbon trading platforms to incentivise green travel. These findings assess MaaS operational benefits, explain user group attraction mechanisms, and offer theoretical support for MaaS 2.0 policy formulation.