MaaS/MOD Standing Committee

Chair: Bill Schwartz, Nelson\Nygaard, Boston, MA, USA

Vice Chair: Heidi Guenin, IBI Group, Portland, OR, USA

In August 2022, the Mobility as a Service/Mobility on Demand (MaaS/MOD) Standing Committee was created as part of the ITE Complete Streets Council. This effort initially began in December 2018, when ITE launched Mobility as a Service (MaaS) as an Institute Initiative to ensure that its members are informed and knowledgeable about the changing mobility landscape. The MaaS Initiative included the development of numerous resources and discussions on MaaS, Mobility on Demand (MOD), and other new mobility options as they emerged.

Key ITE MaaS/MOD Resources: 

• Micromobility Facility Design Guide
• Case Studies on MaaS Trip Planning Apps
• COCO engagement presentation
• Mobility as a Service as part of a Smart Community ITE Quick Bite
• Maas/MOD ITE Initiative 

Other MaaS/MOD Resources: 

• ITE Journal Articles 
• ITE Podcasts 
• Resources from Other Organizations Working in Mobility 

 

ITE Journal Articles

Similarities and Differences of Mobility on Demand (MOD) and Mobility as a Service (MaaS)
By Susan Shaheen and Adam Cohen
In cities around the world, innovative and emerging shared modes are offering residents,businesses, travelers, and other users more options to access mobility, goods, andservices. As these shared modes build a network of services in many cities, consumersare increasingly engaging in more complex multimodal decision-making processes.

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Cities Ready to Modernize Paratransit May Have a New Solution
By Yannis Simaiakis
Imagine attempting to make it to work or a doctor's appointment on time when your pickup and ride time are both unpredictable. Despite being federally mandated, paratransit can often leave much to be desired, both because of service quality challenges and how complex it is to operate such a service. 

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Parking Problems: Motor Vehicle Parking Violations Vastly Surpass Scooters and Bikes
By Calvin Thigpen, Nicholas Klein, and Anne Brown
Imagine that you are transported back in time to March 2018—a mere two years ago. You are walking down busy Market Street in San Francisco, CA, USA on your way to work or to go shopping. Suddenly, you are surprised to see three adults whiz by on colorful, electric two-wheeled scooters. 

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Los Angeles: Transforming Mobility Option through MaaS
By Jarvis Murray and Joe Iacobucci

The advancement of emerging technologies as trans-portation network companies (TNCs), microtransit, and electric scooters/micromobility—coupled with the upcoming autonomous vehicle revolution—will have a profound impact on how people travel -through cities. These disruptions can be an asset to regional mobility when cities are proactive and create management structures accompanied by mobility as a service (MaaS) platforms.

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Mobility and the Public Right of Way  
By Sarah Abel (M)
Various cities noted the sheer number of bicyclists that flooded city streets so quickly, and bicyclists had to vie for space among existing modes, from wagons to electric streetcars. The modes in which we use to travel may ebb and flow, but regulations, standards, and infrastructure in cities is constant and should be planned to accommodate all modes—safely and efficiently.

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A Data Standard for New Mobility
By Rachel Zack, Policy Strategist, Remix
With a proliferation of new mobility modes that create new opportunities for more accessible transportation in the public right of way, cities are faced with concerns and a need for access to data that will help them keep streets safe for all. Is there a data standard that will help cities manage it all? 

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Analysis of E-Scooter Trips and Their Temporal Usage Patterns
By Jijo K. Mathew, Ph.D. (M), Mingmin Liu, Sonya Seeder, Howell Li, and Darcy M. Bullock, Ph.D., P.E. (M) 
With the rising need for affordable shared mobility in urban cities and university campuses, a variety of companies are offering shared dockless e-scooters as a new transportation mode in these areas to provide connectivity for the "last mile." However, as this technology is introduced into the urban mobility ecosystem, it is critical for public agencies to understand the travel patterns and temporal usage to guide long-term planning and resource allocations.

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ITE Podcasts

The ITE Talks Transportation Podcast is quarterly featuring speakers discussing mobility topics. 

The Impact of Innovation on MaaS/MOD with Vincent Valdes
Vincent Valdes joins the ITE Talks Transportation Podcast to talk about the role of mobility as a service (MaaS) and mobility on demand (MOD) in public transit and how innovation can improve travel for users and transportation networks as a whole. The podcast was recorded while Vince was at the FTA Office of Research, Demonstration and Innovation. This summer, he transitioned roles to become president and CEO of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission. Listen here.

Emerging Trends in Mobility with Annie Chang, SAE International
Annie Chang, head of New Mobility at SAE and director of the Mobility Data Collaborative, joins the ITE Talks Transportation podcast to discuss the mobility landscape and her research in the mobility as a service/mobility on demand field. She also shares the challenges and potential solutions regarding safety around micromobility, and talks about the shared taxonomy for mobility recently released by SAE International. Listen here. 

Mobility as a Service with Susan Zielinski
Susan Zielinski, independent consultant and former managing director of the SMART program at the University of Michigan, discusses Mobility as a Service (Maas), including what initiatives are currently underway in the space, how the public and private sectors are contributing to the MaaS ecosystem, and the opportunities and practical challenges of implementing a true MaaS environment in a community. Listen here. 

Mobility as a Service Series: Sam Zimbabwe, Director, Seattle DOT
Sam Zimbabwe, Director of the Seattle, WA, USA Department of Transportation, discusses how the city and surrounding region have incorporated Mobility as a Service, as well as how they are addressing equity and accessibility gaps in the transportation system. Listen here.

Resources from Other Organizations Working in Mobility

• Europe has been planning for mobility for some time and there are many trends that may be used in the United States. One broad European resource that may be helpful to U.S. mobility practice is the MaaS Alliance at https://maas-alliance.eu/.
• The Shared Use Mobility Center (SUMC) has been working in the space of shared mobility since 2014 in the U.S. and has many resources for transportation professionals starting to work on mobility projects, whether public or private or partnerships. some key SUMC resources that are especially helpful are the following:
  • SUMC MOD Learning Center, which includes a comprehensive and updated database of mobility policies in cities from e-ride hailing to scooter shares. You must register to access full content in the Learning Center, but it is very helpful for seeing up-to-date information on what other cities are doing to handle mobility at http://policies.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/#/.
  • Shared-Use Mobility Toolkit is designed to help cities understand the impact of emerging transportation solutions, identify appropriate policy actions, and set goals to maximize the benefits of shared mobility: https://sharedusemobilitycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/SUMC-Toolkit-Final-Report.pdf.
  • Shared Use Mobility Reference Guide helps government, business, and community leaders with an introduction, definitions, updates, analysis and evaluation of shared-use mobility happening today: https://sharedusemobilitycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Reference-Guide-Editsweb-version-10.24.2016.pdf.
  • Cities can use the benefits calculator to determine appropriate mobility options: http://calculator.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/#!/.
  • The map shows modes and policy-related profiles by U.S. cities for multiple shared mobility modes: http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/sumc/.
• FHWA report Shared Mobility Current Practices and Guiding Principles published in April 2016 has foundational principles on how transportation professionals can begin to plan for shared mobility: https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop16022/fhwahop16022.pdf.
• FHWA report from August 2017 titled Travel Behavior Shared Mobility and Transportation Equity provides guidance on using shared mobility as a means to broadly connect people to necessary services via shared mobility and the larger transportation network: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/otps/shared_use_mobility_equity_final.pdf.
• Smart Cities Dive maintains a map and database on the impacts of dockless modes: https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/mapping-the-impact-of-dockless-vehicles/539263/. 
• Transportation 4 America published a Shared Micromobility Playbook in January 2019 to guide cities in the U.S. on how to manage the quickly evolving shared micromobility modes. See the full playbook here: http://playbook.t4america.org/.  
• NACTO policy report on Managing Mobility Data, May 2019: https://nacto.org/2019/05/30/managing-mobility-data/. This resource is helpful to transportation professionals to understand mobility trends and analysis of data and trips.
• TRB published a Mobility on Demand: A Smart, Sustainable, and Equitable Future report in May 2019, which highlights shift in demographics and socal trends associated with mobility and goods movement due to changes in technology. The full report can be found: http://www.trb.org/Main/Blurbs/179157.aspx.
• USDOT Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office released the Mobility on Demand Operational Concept Report in September 2017 to provide guidance to public agencies seeking to provide policies, implementation, and management of mobility services. The full report can be found: https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/34258. 
• ITS America has launched a Mobility on Demand Alliance. Resources from the ITS America MOD Alliance can be found at https://www.modalliance.org.
• The National Center for Mobility Management provides resources related to mobility management, including key terms, practices, trainings, and networkings, at https://nationalcenterformobilitymanagement.org/.