MaaS and Sustainability: How MaaS may deliver sustainable goals in an urban context

Abstract

Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) has gained attention as an innovative approach to enhancing mobility services and promoting sustainable travel by reducing private car dependency. Despite its potential, MaaS faces challenges in encouraging sustainable travel behaviour and achieving commercial scalability. This thesis addresses these challenges through two studies focusing on environmental sustainability and commercial viability. The first study analyses MaaS users’ mode choice behaviour using revealed preference data from the Sydney MaaS trial. A joint choice model was developed to examine how different MaaS products influence sustainable travel behaviour change in terms of mode selection. Findings suggest that well-designed MaaS bundles, particularly those with financial incentives and multiple mobility options, can reduce private vehicle use and encourage shared and public transport. However, the study also highlights the need for financial incentives and the potential for unintended travel behaviour changes. The second study explores the commercial potential of expanding MaaS into a multiservice platform integrating non-mobility services to achieve scalability. Semi-structured interviews with stakeholders identified services for the Australian market, including entertainment discounts, delivery services, media subscriptions, and point rewards schemes. A stated choice experiment was conducted to evaluate user preferences for multiservice offers. Discrete choice modelling revealed that pay-asyou- go multiservice options are preferred, with demand for non-mobility services varying by market segment. Willingness-to-pay estimates provide insights into the feasibility of integrating these services into MaaS. This thesis offers policy implications for MaaS design and contributes with original empirical evidence on sustainable travel behaviour under MaaS and public preferences for multiservices, providing insights into achieving commercial scalability.