The opportunity for Mobility as a Service in Catalonia
In recent years, Mobility as a Service (MaaS) has raised a great deal of interest among the international transport community, and Catalonia has been no exception regarding this global trend. Indeed, MaaS has the potential to generate profound disruptive changes with implications for the way passengers and freight move in the near future, and also impacting the industries and services that are linked to mobility. Ultimately, it will provide tools for public managers of mobility to achieve their objectives of efficiency, safety, sustainability, and accessibility, maximising social inclusion, with public transport remaining the fundamental backbone of mobility. This will be combined with other shared mobility services. In the case of Catalonia, it is crucial to develop a roadmap, a shared vision creating spaces where public and private agents can make the most of this momentum, coming together and joining forces, cooperating and generating insight together.
In this favourable atmosphere, FACTUAL and CARNET proposed a study on the opportunity of MaaS in Catalonia, which kicked off on July 11 and is co-funded by a diverse, yet complementary consortium of stakeholders in the local mobility ecosystem, namely Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB), Abertis, Banc Sabadell, RACC, Saba, and SEAT.
The main objectives of the study were:
- To undertake an in-depth analysis of intelligent mobility in Catalonia, which included the stakeholders that are part of the ecosystem and their liaison with each other, the projects being developed, the mobility services currently available, and the legal/regulatory, social and competitive framework in which these initiatives are taking place.
- To identify gaps and opportunities in the Catalan ecosystem, as well as areas in which more understanding is needed to move forward and contribute to generating the necessary conditions for the successful promotion of these projects.
- To ensure that MaaS projects respond to a shared strategy between public and private agents generating business opportunities aligned with public objectives for more accessible, sustainable and inclusive mobility.
A programme of work sessions has already been organised and includes the participation of invited experts and key stakeholders, with the ambition of focusing the debate on the Catalan context and identifying immediate actions that will foster the development and adoption of MaaS. The project will conclude mid-March 2020 with a public event in Barcelona where the results of the study will be presented.
