30 | INTERVIEW
Bringing MaaS to the UK The publicly funded Transport Systems Catapult (TSC) is developing Mobility as a Service (MaaS) in the UK. In this exclusive interview, TSC’s principal technologists Alan Peters and James Datson (who is also MaaS lead) discuss the implementation challenges and why autonomous vehicles will only be a success if they are used with MaaS Words | Rachelle Harry
TSC is part of the MaaS Alliance – a European organization set up for companies interested in developing common standards for MaaS and focused on addressing problems early, to make sure that Europe is central to the concept’s development. “TSC was funded by the UK’s Department for Transport, which wanted to work out exactly what MaaS could bring to the UK, what the risks are if it is not set up correctly, and what we need to be aware of in its implementation,” says James Datson.
The elements of MaaS “TSC is supporting two MaaS projects in the UK,” says Datson. “Perhaps the best known one is in Birmingham, West Midlands, where we are involved in the deployment of MaaS Global’s Whim service. Our role in the project is to support the local authority [Transport for West Midlands] in building the so-called MaaS ecosystem and, most importantly, to develop an evaluation strategy to ensure that the impacts of MaaS can be captured and learned from.” There are several elements to the MaaS ecosystem. On the top level is the consumer, who
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uses the different types of MaaS transportation. The next level is the MaaS operator – a single company that provides consumers with all their aggregated transport needs. The MaaS operator does the legwork in getting service providers on board to provide MaaS as a one-stop-shop service for the consumer. Under the Maas operators, there are a number of organizations that work together to provide logistics to allow the MaaS operators to deliver journeys at the right times and prices. Next, there are vehicle providers, who deliver the vehicles (bicycles, taxis, trains, etc) that enable consumers to make their journeys. The structure of the MaaS ecosystem may seem logical, but its elements do not necessarily operate together or alongside each other in everyday circumstances. “The interesting thing for me is that the elements in the MaaS ecosystem are all very different types of companies and they don’t necessarily speak the same language,” says Datson. “At TSC we host cross-party workshops that bring people and companies – from different cities – together to discuss and debate MaaS, and to ensure
