The LATAM MaaS industry is projected to experience a substantial rise in the near future, due to population explosion and rapid urbanization, with surging venture capital investments in the MaaS startup companies.
The transport sector is transforming with the emergence of advanced technologies, services, and products.
Mobility as a Service (MaaS) can be defined as the integration of various forms of transport services into a single accessible mobility service on demand. It offers commuters the ease to access mobility services with a single application that provides a single payment channel, mitigating the need for multiple ticketing and payment operations.
A successful MaaS service provides advanced business models and methods to organize and operate various transport options, with benefits such as access to better user and demand information, and new opportunities that cater to the requirement of transport operators.
The MaaS is aimed to add value to the user, and offer an alternative to private use of the vehicle, that is more convenient, sustainable, and economic. Due to surging urbanization, every city in the world is facing pressure which causes liveability and accessibility issues.
The MaaS service can improve the accessibility and living conditions of both rural and urban areas.
The advanced MaaS concept is associated with various elements, including customers’ requirements, tailored, personalized, and comprehensive solutions, integrated payment, a service offer, a contract, a service provider, a business model, an interface, a mobility platform, and others.
There are three major components of MaaS: • It offers the service with a major focus on the user, customer, and traveler transport requirements. • It provides mobility instead of transport. • It offers the integration of information, transport services, payment, and ticketing services.
Moreover, MaaS can be defined as a multimodal, and demand-driven mobility service that offer commuters personalized or tailor-made travel plans with the usage of a digital platform that offers real-time transport information, with payment and transaction processing.
MaaS provides mobility service providers to efficiently cope with the shifting and varying requirements of commuters.
Furthermore, MaaS is not limited to the integration of various types of mobility services. In numerous instances, it includes new transportation services, including car sharing, bicycle sharing, and other advanced demand-driven transportation, including the public fleet.
Bicycle Sharing
The first-mile and last-mile connectivity are the major problems faced by public transport commuters. Bicycle-sharing systems facilitate users to borrow a bicycle for a short duration for a small fee. Over the last few years, the sudden rise in the ‘free-floating’ bicycle sharing systems facilitates users to collect and return bicycles at any location.
Car Sharing
Car sharing is similar to bicycle sharing. It facilitates the subscribers to borrow a car for a specific duration of time, from a few hours to a few days. In most, car sharing services, the users are required to return the borrowed car at the standard location.
The rising investments of the MaaS companies in the LATAM region are projected to increase the accessibility to mobility as a service. In addition, the region offers numerous opportunities for mobility service companies to expand their businesses, with the transformation of mobility as an ecosystem.
Therefore, rapid urbanization fuels the LATAM-based MaaS industry.