On 13-14 July, TTS Italia held its MaaS Italian National Days Conference, where it presented the ‘Guidelines for the development of MaaS services in Italy’. The Guidelines aim to contribute towards the international and national discussion on the future of our mobility. On the occasion of the MaaS Italian National Days Conference in Rome, Dr. Johanna Tzanidaki, Director of Innovation and Deployment at ERTICO-ITS Europe, presented ERTICO’s vision on MaaS and discussed in a panel with representatives from UITP and IRF the role of the MaaS stakeholders in an open ecosystem that favours innovation in the mobility sector.
According to TTS Italia, who elaborated the document, a digital future, simple, accessible and multimodal, which will allow users to move more easily and plan their trips directly from a mobile app, needs to essentially be based on principles such as trust among stakeholders, openness in operations, freedom of choice for the users. All in all, the document’s 12 recommendations aim at aligning the Italian MaaS ecosystem with the work conducted within the MaaS Alliance, the MaaS Platform hosted under the ERTICO umbrella that works with its public and private members towards setting the foundations for a common approach in MaaS in Europe and globally.
“To achieve ERTICO’s goal of creating safer, smarter and cleaner transport services and networks for the benefit of all, MaaS plays an essential role by integrating various forms of transport services into a single mobility service accessible on-demand. ERTICO works to develop, promote and deploy intelligent mobility services by providing a multi-stakeholder platform for action, and by doing so, achieving the vision of being a thought leader and engaging the relevant stakeholders to advance the smart mobility agenda”, Dr. Tzanidaki said.
In this equation, MaaS offers an added value for the user by introducing a single application to provide access to Mobility with a single payment channel instead of multiple ticketing and payment operations. A successful MaaS service also brings new business models and ways to organise and operate the various transport options, with advantages including access to improved user and demand information and new opportunities to serve the unmet need for transport operators. MaaS aims to be the best value proposition for its users, providing an alternative to the private use of the car that may be as convenient, more sustainable, and even cheaper. At the conference, Dr. Tzanidaki discussed the recent developments pertaining to policies at the EU level that impact MaaS, such as the ITS Directive and its Delegated Regulations as well as the EU Smart Mobility Strategy.
“If MaaS aims to be the best value proposition for users, societies and the environment, it has to be able to help individuals meet their mobility needs while at the same time abide by a framework that ensures that operations align with societal and environmental goals. Traffic Management operations and information, if combined with those of MaaS, can help cities reach their goal of balancing the mobility network as a whole”, Dr. Tzanidaki explained. The mobility system is comprised of all modes of transport and the more these are aligned and cooperating towards common targets, the safer, more efficient and more environmentally friendly, transport systems can become.
The ERTICO Partnership, through its multi-annual projects, is involved in MaaS deployment at the national, European and international levels. We support the roadmaps and targets of its members in establishing a level playing field in MaaS while ensuring the interoperability of MaaS services between local mobility systems. An example of a large scale international project in which ERTICO with partners is involved is SOLUTIONSlus, aiming to bring together highly committed cities, industry, research, implementing organisations and finance partners and establishes a global platform for sharing, public and commercial e-mobility solutions to kick start the transition towards low-carbon urban mobility. The project encompasses city level demonstrations to test different types of innovative and integrated e-mobility solutions, complemented by a comprehensive toolbox, capacity development and replication activities. Demonstration actions are launched in Hanoi (Vietnam), Pasig (Philippines), Lalitpur/Kathmandu (Nepal), Kigali (Rwanda), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Quito (Ecuador), Montevideo (Uruguay), Madrid (Spain), Nanjing (China) and Hamburg (Germany).
Vlad Vorotovic, Senior Manager Urban Mobility and MaaS at ERTICO, is leading a number of activities associated with the capacity-building package, including the development of a training course on MaaS and electromobility. “Fortification of the MaaS vision we are promoting in ERTICO is through the deployment of various e-mobility and MaaS solutions, such are the ones in the SOLUTIONSlus project, in a real-world environment spanning four continents Europe, Africa, South America and Asia, exploring various operational models, whilst maintaining an open ecosystem mindset”, comments Vorotovic. He continues: “The Horizon Europe Work Programme published this summer by the EC aims to support EU funded actions in the new and shared mobility services for the next decade, and ERTICO and its partners are already working on proposed schemes to ensure that service providers and industry answer the needs of both the cities and the citizens. If you are interested to find out more, please do get in touch”.
