Methodology

Study Aims

As described in Section 1 of this report, funding for MIF pilot projects was granted based on the submission of a business case which responded to the overall aim of the fund, one or more thematic areas, NTS2 priorities and several other policy drivers. In addition, each pilot project produced their own, separate objectives, which were approved via the submission of detailed monitoring and evaluation plans. Consultation with Transport Scotland emphasised the intent to evidence the contribution MaaS could make to encouraging individuals to choose sustainable and active travel options.

The aim of this study is 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, test MaaS concepts, and to identify the need for further data collection to support decision making on the future of Transport Scotland investment towards MaaS.

Based on the aim of the fund, and those of the individual pilots, the following three key areas of research were established:

  • Viability – What worked for whom and why: Understanding which of the trialled approaches worked best in the Scottish context, in terms of app development and functionality, commercial models, marketing, partnerships, with a view of informing priorities for future investment decisions.
  • Impacts – Establishing whether the MIF has achieved its intended outcomes, including facilitating mode shift to sustainable modes, findings against the MIF themes and the challenges of monitoring the performance of the pilots.
  • Sustainability and Scalability – Understanding the extent to which MaaS is commercially sustainable and which model would work best if rolled out across Scotland.

These topics were explored through the following research activities:

  • A review of evidence from the existing Evaluation Reports for the five MIF funded pilots and identification of knowledge gaps.
  • Stakeholder interviews and focus groups to record their views of the benefits and potential for future viability of MaaS and collate learning points regarding delivery approaches.

Further details of the scope for these activities is provided in the following sections.

Review of MaaS Evaluation Reports

The five final Evaluation Reports for each of the MIF pilots were reviewed in order to gain an overview of what the projects delivered, how they were monitored and the evidence towards achievement of their stated objectives, with a view of highlighting evidence gaps and identifying further information requirements from stakeholders. The results of this exercise are summarised in Chapter 3. A list of pilot outputs is provided in Appendix B, evidence of uptake in Appendix C, the performance of each pilot against their own stated objectives as presented in the pilot’s own final evaluation reports is detailed in Appendix D and monitoring and evaluation activities are summarised in Appendix E.

Not all of the evaluation reports are publicly available online, but have been supplied to AECOM for the purposes of this study.

Stakeholder Interviews and Focus Groups

The stakeholder engagement encompassed interviews with key personnel from the five MaaS pilots, focus groups with transport operators and a focus group with organisations that benefitted from the MaaS pilots. The review of MaaS Evaluation Reports was used to inform the design of the discussion guide. This is shown in Appendix A. 

Five interviews with key personnel responsible for the delivery of the five pilots were conducted in order to establish the scope of the pilot, key benefits delivered and learning points regarding the delivery approaches and service viability relevant to the potential roll out of MaaS across Scotland.

Two focus groups were held with a sample of mode operators involved with at least one of the MaaS pilots and covered their experience of integrating with the service, key benefits from an operator’s perspective, feedback on delivery approaches, perceptions on commercial viability and insights relevant to the potential future roll out of MaaS across Scotland.

One interview and one focus group were conducted with key project beneficiaries. These discussions explored topics including key benefits from their perspective of the trial, the promoter’s approach to engaging with beneficiaries and insights relevant to the potential future roll out of MaaS across Scotland.

All interviews and focus groups took place between May and June 2024.

Report Structure

This report is structured into the following sections:

  • Chapter 3: Viability: discusses finding from the pilots in relation to Viability, including discussions with MaaS leads and other stakeholders.
  • Chapter 4: Impacts: discusses finding from the pilots in relation to Impacts, including discussions with MaaS leads and other stakeholders.
  • Chapter 5: Scalability and Sustainability: discusses findings from the pilots in relation to the commercial sustainability of MaaS, and implications for rolling out across Scotland, including discussions with MaaS leads and other stakeholders.
  • Chapter 6: Summary and Next Steps: A summary of the evaluation finding and recommended next steps for scoping further research.