Review of Whole System Simulation Methodologies for Assessing Mobility as a Service (MaaS) as an Enabler for Sustainable Urban Mobility

Abstract

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is an emerging concept that is being advanced as an effective approach to improve the sustainability of mobility, especially in densely populated urban areas. MaaS can be defined as the integration of various transport modes into a single service, accessible on demand, via a seamless digital planning and payment application. Recent studies have shown the potential reduction in the size of automobile fleets, with corresponding predicted improvements in congestion and environmental impact, that might be realized by the advent of automated vehicles as part of future MaaS systems. However, the limiting assumptions made by these studies point to the difficult challenge of predicting how the complex interactions of user demographics and mode choice, vehicle automation, and governance models will impact sustainable mobility. The work documented in this paper focused on identifying available methodologies for assessing the sustainability impact of potential MaaS implementations from a whole system (STEEP—social, technical, economic, environmental, and political) perspective. In this research, a review was conducted of current simulation tools and models, relative to their ability to support transportation planners, to assess the MaaS concept, holistically, at a city level. The results presented include: a summary of the literature review, a weighted ranking of relevant transportation simulation tools per the assessment criteria, and identification of key gaps in the current state of the art. The gaps include capturing the interaction of demographic changes, mode choice, induced demand, and land use in a single framework that can rapidly explore the impact of alternative MaaS scenarios, on sustainable mobility, for a given city region. These gaps will guide future assessment methodologies for urban mobility systems, and ultimately assist informed decision-making.

Perspectives on Modeling Energy and Mobility Transitions for Stakeholders: A Dutch Case

“…Strategies for sustainable transportation planning (process), including modeling approaches (n = 9) [37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45] The functions and responsibilities of stakeholders involved in transitioning an urban freight transport system (n = 1) [46] Urban spatial planning aimed at addressing mobility issues such as traffic congestion (n = 2) [47,48] Technical solutions for adapting an urban transportation system to fit the unique characteristics of a city, such as a tourism-based economy (n = 2) [49,50] The current state of academic knowledge and practices related to emerging research topics, such as end-of-life vehicle management and modeling techniques for electric vehicle batteries (n = 8) [51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58] Table 4. Knowledge disseminated through the sustainable business models.…”

Mobility as a Service and urban infrastructure: From concept to practice

“…Considering the support from the big order, trajectory, and payment data collected from the real-world operation, with a well-developed simulation algorithm, the result and recommendation of the simulator can be quite accurate and meaningful. Muller et al (2021) systematically reviewed the simulation methodologies for assessing MaaS from social, technical, economic, environmental, and political perspectives.…”

Competition and Cooperation of Autonomous Ridepooling Services: Game-Based Simulation of a Broker Concept

“…Typically, they at least collect information of multiple providers, offer the possibility to book mobility services, and provide a common method for payment (Smith and Hensher, 2020). The design and possible regulation of a MaaS platform, e.g., by pricing and bundling of services, can affect user decisions (Feneri et al, 2020) and ultimately help in reaching sustainability objectives (Muller et al, 2021).…”