Florida city trials mobility-as-a-service app

The City of Tampa, Florida is looking for 200 people to participate in a mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) pilot with transport tech firm Moovit.

As part of the trial, the city wants participants to answer three-question surveys every 30 days over a six-month period to see how the app can be adapted to its mobility ecosystem.

“The cost of travel, both financial and time cost, is going up across Tampa Bay,” said Vik Bhide, Mobility Director, City of Tampa.

“With the Moovit app, the City of Tampa is trying to make it as easy as possible to get people where they need or want to go.”

In addition to mapping and planning tools, the Moovit app also offers mobile ticketing for public transit, real-time arrival information and displays parking spaces and park and ride locations.

Both the Florida Department of Transportation and the city have each contributed US$150,000 to the launch of the app in Tampa.

“We are pleased to work with the city of Tampa to encourage more residents to use public transit, including car drivers, by displaying where to park at transit hubs or park and ride stations to easily make the switch to transit to finish their journey,” said Yovav Meydad, Moovit’s Chief Growth and Marketing Officer.

MaaS on the rise?

A study from Juniper Research published in October claimed that MaaS will generate revenues of US$92 billion globally by 2027 – up from US$20 billion in 2022.

The main drivers will be the cost and convenience of MaaS solutions and the increased investment into MaaS infrastructure.

The report also predicts that by 2027, 65 percent of global MaaS revenue will be generated through subscriptions – where for a flat monthly fee, users gain access to a variety of transport services, providing a more cost-effective and convenient transit proposition.

But it also anticipates that the current use of an ad hoc charging model will continue to be crucial in fostering consumer trust, enabling potential users to trial MaaS journeys for a one-off fee, rather than committing to an ongoing subscription.

“The ability to pay for a single journey in an app, despite leveraging multiple modes of transport, will create substantial cost savings for users, in comparison to individual transit services,” said the study’s author, Cara Malone.

“MaaS platforms must promote these savings to attract users away from established transport services and towards subscription plans for MaaS services.”

Image: Moovit