Imfino News

June 17, 2019 - Nearly half of Dutch people is open to experimenting with Mobility as a Service (MaaS): a travel subscription allowing them to use a whole range of shared and public transport, the idea being that a real-time app advises them on the most efficient route to take, regardless of the type of traffic. That said, their willingness to switch is contingent on this new mode of transport taking them to where they want to go in as easy a way as they can currently get there using their own cars, motorbikes or bicycles.

ABN AMRO sees MaaS as a potentially promising solution to the underutilisation of parked cars, ever-growing traffic volumes and queues, congestion in urban areas and the air pollution that comes with it. Research commissioned by ABN AMRO shows that over 64% of Dutch people are willing to reconsider their travel behaviour – a notable change, as, at this point, 60% currently takes public transport only occasionally or not at all. And although, 93% does not yet use shared transport today, 55% do expect this to become more popular going forward.

MaaS represents a potential market value of EUR 4.8 billion

Many respondents feel that current transport alternatives are not good enough a replacement for their own cars or their own modes of transport. Public transport is reckoned to be too expensive and fails to meet the need of a ‘door-to-door’ experience. What’s more, many Dutch people don’t have access to car sharing in their immediate environment, but once these obstacles are gone, MaaS has tremendous potential. Even at the current state of play, 15% of Dutch people are already open to this model, ABN AMRO research finds, with a majority will to spend EUR 200 a month towards a transport subscription. This would add up to EUR 4.8 billion in turnover for transport providers and platforms giving access to shared cars, bikes and mopeds. The secret to MaaS success will be the quality, affordability and reliability of what’s on offer. If these preconditions are met, 45% of Dutch people are willing to trade in their cars for a transport subscription [[[not a season ticket, obviously, as it’ll include a wide range of transport types, but I’m not sure subscription is the right term either]]], with turnover potential up to EUR 14.4 billion a year.

All carriers should join forces to make MaaS a success

The market for transport is on the eve of a revolution, ABN AMRO argues. “MaaS has tremendous potential, provided the transport on offer is able to compete with people’s own cars or other modes of transport in terms of convenience, trust and price. Successful MaaS apps – e.g. in Finland and the United States – show that it’s important to link up providers or public and shared transport. It’s by connecting these different modes of transport that they’ll meet the needs of commuters and travellers and persuade them not to use their own transport,” says Franka Rolvink Couzy, Head of Sector Research at ABN AMRO. “To make MaaS a success outside the cities and across borders, we’ll need an international standard, allowing IT systems and payment methods to be aligned and all national and international modes of transport to be hook up through one or a few apps.”

This report is part of the Sustainability Monitor, a quarterly survey among more than a thousand people aged 18 and above in the Netherlands. The Monitor is conducted by the bank and research agency PanelWizard. It measures the degree to which the Dutch incorporate sustainability into their lives in order to determine what is needed to bring about change among Dutch consumers.

Relevant links

• The Dutch want to live sustainably, but still have a good time