Volunteers are sought to participate in a pioneering ‘Mobility as a Service’ (MaaS) trial in the West Midlands, allowing travellers to access various transport services via a single smartphone application.

The region is to be the UK testing ground for Whim – a MaaS app developed in Finland – in what will be the first trial of the system outside of the Scandinavian country.

The app lets users pay for their required transport services on a monthly or pay as you go basis, and could help to reduce private car use in cities. It will also advise on the best routes to take and deal with all tickets and payments.

The system’s year long West Midlands trial will involve 500 customers and is due to get under way in the spring. It is a collaboration between Transport for West Midlands, Whim developer MaaS Global and regional transport providers.

“Mobility as a Service can transform how people get about this region and by doing so help free up our roads and tackle the scourge of congestion which costs this region billions of pounds a year,” said lead member for transport at the West Midlands Combined Authority Roger Lawrence.

Bus and coach operator National Express West Midlands, rail information company SilverRail and car hire firm Enterprise have already signed up to participate in the scheme.

MaaS Global co founder and chief executive Kaj Pyyhtiä said he is excited to trial Whim in the West Midlands. “This region is a huge conurbation and will be a real test of how Whim can get people from A to B,” he said.

MaaS Global launched Whim in Finland in Autumn 2015 and recently reached an agreement with the Helsinki Regional Transport board for the city’s public transport services to be made available through the app.