Mobility-as-a-Service

Top 10 drivers
behind MaaS

1.   The sharing economy is everywhere

You don’t necessarily need to own a (n)(electric!) car, bike, scooter: you only have to pay as you use it, for a short period. Elon Musk predicts that you’ll share your Tesla as a robotaxi as of 2020. H&M has started consumer testing to rent jeans…

2.   Quality of life in cities isn’t getting better

Cities are getting congested, in particular due to the trend that more and more people want to live and work in cities, according to a UN study by 2050 an estimated 68% of the world population will live in cities.

3.   Employee benefits today must include mobility

In the war for talent, corporations are now starting to offer a mobility budget rather than a company car, even an EV. Millennials are less interested in owning a car, they bike, use public transportation, are environmentally conscious.

4.   Simplifying travel expense management

With MaaS it’s possible to get one itemised invoice per employee, categorized in every desirable way. But also it’s possible to set a budget upfront, avoiding any discussion afterwards. If the budget ceiling has been reached, the employee can opt to pay for the journey with his/her personal bank account or credit card.

5.   Mass customization, serving individual needs

Products and services in all businesses are offering more and more customization, tailoring to individual consumer needs.

6.   Sustainability

Companies are under pressure of customers, employees and even banks, to demonstrate that they are making an effort to reduce CO2 emissions. The digitization of mobility services, allows detailed insights in results of those efforts, providing measurable evidence that companies care about the environment.

7.   The smartphone as Swiss army knife

The smartphone has become the single most important device we carry with us, providing support under almost all circumstances, so why not for instant mobility advice? A simple app can do the trick – but making it stupid simple is actually a big challenge, it needs to be extremely intuitive and convenient to guide the user through the choices to make.

8.   The Internet-of-Things (IoT)

Every device is becoming connected to the internet: bikes, cars, scooters, lamp posts, traffic signs, allowing new applications, autonomous driving and sophisticated new services.

9.   Smart cities

Enabling governments to better steer traffic and control congestion, building on massive amounts of data with artificial intelligence.

10. Competition in the transport industry

For companies like Uber, but also railway companies and airlines, MaaS represents an opportunity to go after a bigger “share of wallet” of travel budgets of individuals and businesses. Today, Google is already the “gorilla” in the room. In certain markets, such as the Netherlands, Google Maps offers alternative journeys. Booking a route and paying for the entire journey, would be a logical next step for Google and turn the company into a serious MaaS player.

Taxi was the very first MaaS product

Historically, taxi has actually been the very first MaaS product in the world. But taxi did not innovate much until Uber “appified” the customer experience, thereby disrupting the entire industry. At Travel Electric, we disrupted the Amsterdam taxi market starting in 2011 by being the first 100% electric company in the world. Being at the forefront of sustainability, we won the hearts and budgets of business customers like ING Bank, Heineken and KLM, establishing ourselves as the premier business-to-business taxi company, having our Green Tie drivers providing quality mobility services. As partner in the Amsterdam Zuidas business district MaaS pilot “Amaze” which will commence May 2020, we are happy to be at the forefront again.

But we are also helping companies outside the Amsterdam Zuidas district to provide a sustainable MaaS offering for their staff. Feel free to contact us and tell us how we can support your mobility needs.