Mobility as a Service: A business case for EC2B

Innovation potential and Project scope

Urbanisation is increasing globally and many cities suffer from congestion and a poor urban environment. Alternative solutions to increased car traffic are required, not least in connection with property development and accommodation building. Mobility as a Service (MaaS) has received a lot of attention recently, and is generally seen as an innovation with large potential to be part of the solution. MaaS offers customers an attractive alternative to owning one’s own car, allowing easy access to a variety of transport modes such as public transport, car sharing facilities, rental bikes etc. MaaS hence has a potential to reduce car use and related emissions. However, for this future to be realised, these services need to be developed. So far, real world MaaS demonstration projects have been few, and have encountered various problems. An innovation opportunity clearly exists for a consortium that learns the lessons from previous attempts, successfully manages to connect supply and demand and identifies a scalable and replicable business model.

The purpose of this project is to deliver a feasibility study for Trivector’s MaaS concept EC2B (“Easy to B”), with focus on building strong relations between supply and demand and further developing the business model, in preparation for a future demonstration phase. Trivector foresees that if the feasibility study gives encouraging results, and strong relations are established with key stakeholders, the next step would be to turn EC2B into a new start-up.

EC2B provides users the freedom to select a transport service easily and comfortably. Good information, booking services, and access to general public transport as well as to specific measures where people live and make their everyday choices for transport, are required in order to achieve a shift from car to other modes of transport. EC2B takes advantage of current trends where sharing is on the rise compared to private ownership. EC2B will be easy to use and provide a seamless solution for transport of people and goods. The EC2B concept consists of a digital platform and a unique business model. The digital platform is partially for providing information, bookings and payment for a range of transport services and partially base for a “social platform”. The social function provides support for nudging and behavioural change towards sustainability, support for an active mobility as well as a community for interaction and value creating activities amongst the users. The business model integrates a range of mobility services into an attractive offer which is connected to accommodation, as most trips start and/or end where people live. To provide this form of mobility as part of the accommodation is innovative and unique for EC2B.

Demand-side need

EC2B meets a real requirement and a concrete demand of the market. The EC2B concept has received a large amount of attention from actors such as cities, property managers, property developers, transport operators and end-users (residents, travellers). Partners in the project consortium are the cities of Malmö and Copenhagen, together with Movia which is the largest public transport operator in Denmark. Malmö and Copenhagen (together with Movia) are both actively working towards implementing MaaS demonstration projects in their cities.

EC2B’s customers are not only users of the transport services but also the property developers and property managers who include EC2B as a part of an attractive and innovative accommodation concept. Since EC2B potentially reduces car ownership it also reduces demand for parking space, which is interesting for property developers as building parking lots and underground garages are very expensive.

Through using accommodation as a base for the business model, the possibility for a long-lived relationship with the users is created. EC2B is built so that it can be developed over time both through service providers and other supporting systems in the platform. A combination of subscriptions of transport services and user-demanded additional services gives a stable financing base and good opportunities for add-on sales.

Potential Climate Impact

EC2B is an innovative concept using novel approaches for urban mobility, providing convenient options for a less car dependent lifestyle. EC2B supports users to shift from car to other modes of transport, resulting in reduced carbon emissions, less pollution, less use of city space, increased use of public transport and not least increased health for participants. EC2B’s potential effect on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions has been calculated to 3.2 tons of CO₂ per year and person using the service (based on driving 15,000 km driving per year with a car consuming 0.8 liters of petrol/10km).

EC2B delivers a potential for a more efficient use (i.e. higher degree of use) of the vehicle fleet and thus a faster interchange of new vehicle technologies. EC2B will thus contribute to meeting the first target of the transport white paper; halve the use of ‘conventionally-fuelled’ cars in urban transport by 2030; phase them out in cities by 2050; achieve essentially CO2-free city logistics in major urban centres by 2030.