Public transport and active travel risk being marginalised by the emergence of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) if it is not designed with public policy goals in mind, MPs heard on Monday.

 

An evidence session of the Transport Select Committee saw chair, Lilian Greenwood, ask a panel of experts how MaaS is likely to impact on societal objectives such as getting people out of private cars and improving health and air quality.

 

“I don’t think there is anything in MaaS by definition that necessarily drives better modal choice among individuals,” professional services firm KPMG’s partner Sarah Owen-Vandersluis told the committee.

 

“MaaS gives us the tools to start nudging people to make certain choices, which could be to suggest they take a healthy option. That has to be designed into it,” she said. But she warned that nudges could also be used to serve commercial interests such as suggesting the use of a particular brand of car.

 

In such cases she said she fears for modes that are not revenue generating, such as walking. “Depending on which type of MaaS wins out commercially soonest, there could be some challenges.”

 

Data specialist Ito World’s chief executive Johan Herrlin agreed, adding: “I can definitely see a scenario whereby public transport options get marginalised to servicing the non-profitable routes, the difficult areas to serve, or only in disadvantaged areas, while private operators take the good routes and commercially profitable areas.”

 

This he described as the “dystopian version of MaaS”. He added that it should be the responsibility of Government and city authorities to put in place legislation “to guide the behaviour of private and public actors to drive our larger societal goals.”

 

Sarah Owen-Vandersluis also noted the need for flexible regulation that can be adapted depending on the way the market goes. “There is more thinking to be done and we have to also think about the risks of not doing anything at all, which is a difficult position to be in,” she added.

 

Also appearing before the committee was MaaS Global founder Sampo Hietanen, known as one of the originators of MaaS. “In any disruption there is a threat that things don’t go well,” he said.

 

He expressed a fear that if public transport does not “open up” and integrate itself into MaaS systems “then everything else starts to package together and public transport is left outside”.