Introduction

Background

In its 2018 Programme for Government, the Scottish Government committed to investing £2 million over three years to support the testing of the Mobility as a Service (MaaS) concept in Scotland. The fund was open to public, private and/or third sector organisations looking to undertake a MaaS pilot in Scotland.

The aim of the MaaS Investment Fund (MIF) was to test, in a practical application, the viability of MaaS in Scotland.

Transport Scotland commissioned an evaluation to establish what the evidence from the five MIF pilot projects demonstrates in terms of the overall viability and potential impact of MaaS in Scotland, and to identify the need for further data collection to support decision making on the future of Transport Scotland investment towards MaaS.

The fund was opened for applications in 2019, with a further, final application round in 2021.

MIF applicants were required to outline how their proposed use of MaaS could contribute towards the achievement of Scotland’s second National Transport Strategy (NTS2) outcomes under the NTS2 priorities:

  • Reduce Inequalities
  • Takes Climate Action
  • Helps Deliver Inclusive Economic Growth
  • Improves our Health and Wellbeing

In addition, Round 2 applicants were encouraged to outline how their proposed use of MaaS would complement wider Scottish Government policy, including:

  • Low Emission Zones
  • Smart Cities
  • Covid-19 Recovery
  • 20-minute Neighbourhoods

Within the guidelines for applications, applicants were asked to apply MaaS to one or more thematic areas. These were:

  • Rural, Islands and Communities: This theme asked for the pilot to address barriers for travel specific to local communities and visitors within rural and island settings. (applicable in Rounds 1 and 2 of the fund)
  • Tackling Inequality, Accessibility and Mobility Barriers: This theme asked for the pilot to address barriers for travel specific to those with accessibility or mobility issues, and to challenge inequality. (applicable in Rounds 1 and 2 of the fund)
  • Tourism: This theme sought solutions addressing barriers for visitors travelling in and around Scotland. (applicable in Round 1 only)
  • Urban Environments: This theme sought to address urban specific challenges, complementing Government initiatives such as Low Emission Zones, smart city schemes, localism or multi-modal smart and integrated ticketing zones. (applicable in Round 2 only)

The breadth of policy objectives available for applicants to respond to reflected the overarching ethos of the MIF to encourage learning from a wide variety of use cases and settings, to test the concept and provide a breadth of learning opportunities. The criteria for the MIF were developed and assessed using a working group made up of a variety of experts with specialisms in MaaS, technology, accessibility and rural issues.

MaaS Investment Fund Pilots

There were two rounds of funding awarded, first in 2019 and second in 2021. The pilots which were awarded funding were as follows:

2019 Allocation:

  • GetGo (Dundee City Council): journey planning app with marketing focus around 7 sub-pilot events.
  • Go-Hi (Hitrans): multi-modal journey planning across a wide range of modes (including ferries and airplane) with payment functionalities across the Highlands area.
  • ENABLE (Tactran): three individual journey planning and booking apps with bespoke branding for different organisations using the same base system, based around Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) with existing mode aggregators.

2021 Allocation:

  • GoSEStran (SEStran): app based on the ENABLE platform for journey planning, intended to supplement a new Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) service.
  • St Andrews MaaSterplan (University of St Andrews): establishing new modes in St Andrews and integrating these into the existing GoSEStran app.
  • Go-Hi (Hitrans): further development of functionality within the Go-Hi app.

Pilot Specific Objectives

In addition to the general themes, there were a number of pilot specific objectives, applied by each project unilaterally, which formed the basis for their self-evaluation. These objectives were either stated in the pilot project’s final report or referenced in each individual pilot’s monitoring and evaluation plan, and are listed in the following sections. Findings on the use and achievement of these objectives is presented in the ’Pilot Specific Objectives’ section of the Impacts chapter and in Appendix D.

GetGo Dundee

  • Providing standardised web-based Dundee travel information to improve the uptake of sustainable modes.
  • Including shared E-bikes in travel ticketing to improve uptake of sustainable modes.
  • Using the bespoke GetGo Dundee app to improve the uptake of sustainable modes.
  • Using the National Entitlement Card (NEC) platform to improve uptake of sustainable modes.
  • Using integrated ticketing through the ShareMORE app to improve uptake of sustainable modes.
  • Including temporary “last mile” services to events to improve uptake of sustainable modes.
  • Determining how personalisation of services through the ShareMORE app can improve the uptake of sustainable modes.

Go-Hi

  • Improve access to integrated transport services in Highlands & Islands.
  • Test feasibility of Mobility as a Service in a rural context.
  • Encourage a shift from sole occupancy cars to more sustainable travel options.
  • Create healthier lifestyles by improving sustainable travel choices, including active travel.
  • Support the delivery of Transport Scotland’s National Transport Strategy 2.

Tactran ENABLE

  • Promote better travel choices and access to services and opportunities (e.g. healthcare; employment, education and training; leisure) by offering ENABLE users personalised, high-quality, integrated, digital transport information, as well as booking and payment solutions.
  • Deliver services that are valued by participating mobility service providers and partner organisations.
  • Identify a business model that facilitates: delivery of public policy objectives; good governance; the ability to upscale; and commercial success.

GoSEStran

There are separate sets of objectives which were listed in the monitoring and evaluation plan and the final evaluation report. For the purposes of this evaluation the first stated set of objectives have been examined:

  • To investigate whether a MaaS tool of this nature could help address one of the Fund’s key themes of transport poverty in a rural context. 
  • To explore links between MaaS and a linked Digital DRT bus service. 

St Andrews MaaSterplan

  • To scale an existing MaaS digital platform to meet the needs of visitors, commuters and the residents of St Andrews.
  • Explore and facilitate bringing new sustainable modes of transport to the town of St Andrews.
  • Incorporate the following (existing and new) transport modes to provide multi-modal and mixed modal routing into the app: demand responsive transport, bikeshare, rideshare, carshare, peer-to-peer car share, walking, public transport and taxis.
  • Implement and analyse marketing strategies to engage, acquire and retain users for the MaaS digital platform.
  • Monitor and evaluate the project, to indicate successes, failures, challenges, impacts and any unintended consequences.