Martin Howell, Cubic Transportation Systems’ Director of External Affairs, has joined the Board of Directors for the Mobility as a Service (MaaS) Alliance launched in 2015 by ERTICO – ITS Europe.
MaaS is a transport vision for packaging demand-based transport services, including public transport, car-sharing, rental cars, taxis and bike-sharing, onto a single platform with one payment account for users. Customers pay for what they use through a provider’s subscription service and are billed one invoice per month – similar to how utility or mobile phone services are managed today. Trials in Finland and Sweden have been well received, leading to further development by the MaaS Alliance in Europe, with the potential to extend to other global regions.
Among the benefits of MaaS is it could be significantly cheaper for a user when compared to owning a private vehicle, which has the cumulative costs of finance, insurance, maintenance, parking and more. MaaS also has the potential to remove millions of private vehicles from congested freeways, lessening pollution and other environmental impacts.
“Urban mobility faces not only pressure but opportunity, where revolutionary change is necessary if we are to face the challenges of population growth and limitations on infrastructure in our cities,” said Howell. “I am extremely excited to play a part in making MaaS a reality in Europe and look forward to working with the board to achieve this vision.”
“We are delighted to welcome Martin to the board of directors. He brings a range of experience and knowledge from his career at Cubic and shares the enthusiasm we all feel for making MaaS a reality in Europe,” said Rasmus Lindholm, ERTICO’s Director of Communications and Partnership Development.
More than 20 organisations joined forces to create the Maas Alliance, including universities, European ITS organisations, public authorities and industry.
