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Digitalisation has transformed industries as diverse as banking and media – and next up is transport. Leading innovation is the Mobility as a Service, or MaaS business model. The Transport Systems Catapult (TSC), which published its Exploring the Opportunity for Mobility as a Service in the UK report last July, describes MaaS as “using a digital interface to source and manage the provision of a transport-related service(s) which meet the mobility requirements of a customer”.In short, one-size-fits-all is no longer an option. Today’s transport user expects services that suit their circumstances and align with their lifestyles.James Datson, who heads the TSC’s MaaS programme, and was lead author on the report, envisages two future MaaS growth models: firstly, the Cars-as-a-Service model, currently dominated by app-based ride hailing companies, which offer easy access to vehicles, eliminating the need for ownership; and, secondly, what the TSC describes as the Intelligent Mobility (IM), scenario. This scenario is characterised by supporting consumers’ and society’s needs, and will deliver multi-modal mobility for a truly integrated public transport system.By using digital technology to connect people, places and goods across all transport modes, MaaS offerings will provide customers with readily available, dynamically updated and user-relevant information. This way they can tailor journeys based on factors such as directness of route, speed, cost and environmental friendliness, and address their accessibility needs. This is already being realised by companies such as Helsinki-based start-up MaaS Global. Its Whim app (available on monthly subscription or pay-as-you-go) will help individuals identify the best way of getting from A to B using public and private transport. Whim will be trialled in the UK with Transport for West Midlands in 2017. Datson has also identified four main components required to realise MaaS growth: Big Data needed to facilitate peoples’ journeys; apps that enable users to utilise that data for their travelling needs; appropriate transport modes and transport Below rightThe MaaS digital interface will arrange transport based on the preferences of the travellerTODAY’S CONSUMERS EXPECT THEIR TRANSPORT NEEDS TO BE MET WITH THE SAME FLEXIBILITY AS THEIR OTHER LIFESTYLE REQUIREMENTS, AND BUSINESSES AND POLICY MAKERS WHO DELIVER ON THAT VISION STAND TO GAIN THE MOSTMOBILITY AS A SERVICE: A NEW PARADIGMMOBILITY AS A SERVICE22IMAGINE