The switch to a more sustainable transport system is a major challenge. Successively expanding and improving public transport, as well as improving the conditions for pedestrians and cyclists, are the foundations for ensuring socio-economically effective transport provision that is sustainable in the long-term for citizens and business throughout the country.
This is not enough, however. New approaches, like the promotion of shared mobility through Mobility as a Service, will become essential.
MaaS systems offer customers personalised access to multiple transport modes and services, owned and operated by different service providers, through an integrated digital platform for planning, booking and payment.
The development of MaaS in Australia will take another step forward this week in the lead up to the second annual Mobility as a Service conference, MaaS 2019, this Thursday 2 May in Melbourne.
It will be a very busy week, with a full program of events leading up to the conference.
Amongst those events is the first meeting of the newly-formed National Reference Committee for Mobility as a Service. The Committee has been formed following last year’s inaugural Mobility as a Service conference, and the publishing of ITS Australia’s report Mobility as a Service in Australia: Customer insights and opportunities.
The National Reference Committee will serve to continue the collaboration that has been fostered during the development of that report and to strive for the best outcomes for MaaS and on-demand transport for all Australians.
The steering committee is made up of project participants and other key industry players from across Australia’s states and territories. This broad range of expertise will contribute to, and collaborate around, the development of Mobility as a Service in Australia.
Through sharing updates on activities in respective jurisdictions and organisations; including research, trials, and international engagement.
It is important to continue to collaborate across industry, government, and academia on a national and even international scale to ensure the successful development of Mobility as a Service in Australia.
The Committee will provide an exciting to share experiences with MaaS proposals or projects, potential opportunities, and establish best practice approaches by:
- Using the vision statement to establish a baseline and framework of ‘what success looks like’
- Considering alignment of current activity against the vision statement
- Developing a roadmap to MaaS, referencing regional variations
- Reviewing progress against identified opportunity areas
- Developing tools and metrics to measure longitudinal developments
- Sharing information across organisations; outcomes of pilot programs and research
- Sharing recent and planned activity to identify opportunities for ongoing collaboration
ITS Australia is committed to exploring innovations like MaaS that have the potential to increase transportation safety and sustainability, reduce congestion, and improve the performance and competitiveness of Australia’s networks for the benefit of all Australian transport users.
This partner content is brought to you by ITS Australia. View information about the MaaS 2019 conference here.
