Mobility on Demand (MOD) Business Models Elements

Demand for Emerging Transportation Systems, 2020

Chapter 3 Mobility on demand (MOD) and mobility as a service (MaaS): early understanding of shared mobility impacts and public transit partnerships 1 INTRODUCTION For as long as there have been cities, urban mobility has been at its core. As cities and technologies have evolved, societies have moved from wheeled carts and horses to horseless carriages and modern cars. Today, this evolution continues. Technology is changing the way we move, which is in turn reshaping cities and society. Shared and on-demand mobility represent one of the notable shifts in transportation in the 21st century. Some suggest revolutionary changes could lead to the end of the automobile due to a number of forces, including automated vehicle technology and innovative service models; however, this seems unlikely. Rather, these advances, coupled with public policy, suggest we could reimagine how we use and interact with vehicles, including private-vehicle ownership. The integration of transportation modes, real-time information, and instant communication and dispatch all possible with the click of a mouse or a smartphone app is redefining "auto mobility." Rather than rendering cars obsolete, the convergence of on-demand shared travel, automation, and electric-drive technology could change our relationship with the automobile, making vehicles more cost-effective, efficient, and convenient. Demographic shifts, advancements in technology, congestion, the commodification of transportation services, and heightened awareness about the environment and climate change are contributing to the growth of shared on-demand mobility. In recent years, mobility on demand (MOD) where consumers access mobility, goods, and services on-demand has grown due to advancements in technology; changing consumer preferences (mobility and retail consumption); and a myriad of economic, environmental, and social factors. Key industry benchmarks exemplify developments in this emerging sector:  Carsharing-As of January 2017, there were 21 active carsharing programs in the United States (U.S.) with over 1.4 million members sharing more than 17,000 vehicles (Shaheen et al., 2018).  Bikesharing-As of the end of 2017, the U.S. had more than 200 bike-sharing operators with more than 100,000 bicycles (Russell Meddin, unpublished data). More than 84 million trips were taken on micromobility (bikesharing and scooter sharing) in the U.S. in 2018 (NACTO, 2018).  Transportation network companies (TNCs, also known as ridesourcing and ridehailing)-As of the end of 2018, Lyft reported 18.6 million active riders and more than 1.1 million drivers operating in more than 300 markets throughout the U.S. and Canada (based on SEC filings). Uber operated in 63 countries serving an estimated 82 million users as of December 2018 (based on SEC filings).  Pooling-As of December 2017, uberPOOL and Lyft Shared rides, a pooled version of forhire TNCs, were available in 14 and 16 U.S. markets, respectively (Paige Tsai, personal communication; Peter Gigante, personal communication). Innovative carpool apps, such as Scoop and Waze Carpool, also are enabling on-demand higher occupancy commuting. The growth of on-demand mobility and courier services is contributing to private-sector interest. Acquisitions, investments, partnerships, internal development of technologies, and mobility

Organization & Environment, 2014

The public perception of shared goods has changed substantially in the past few years. While co-owning properties has been widely accepted for a while (e.g., timeshares), the notion of sharing bikes, cars, or even rides on an on-demand basis is just now starting to gain widespread popularity. The emerging "sharing economy" is particularly interesting in the context of cities that struggle with population growth and increasing density. While sharing vehicles promises to reduce inner-city traffic, congestion, and pollution problems, the associated business models are not without problems themselves. Using agency theory, in this article we discuss existing shared mobility business models in an effort to unveil the optimal relationship between service providers (agents) and the local governments (principals) to achieve the common objective of sustainable mobility. Our findings show private or public models are fraught with conflicts, and point to a merit model as the most promising alignment of the strengths of agents and principals.

Discussion papers, 2020

Transportation research circular, 2018

Research in Transportation Business & Management, 2019

The growing number of public transportation agencies partnering with Mobility on Demand (MOD) or Mobility as a Service (MaaS) companies raises the question of what role MOD companies can, should, and currently play in the provision of public transport. In this article, we develop a typology reflecting 62 MOD public-private partnerships (MOD PPPs) in the United States and present lessons learned. We conducted 34 interviews with representatives from four MOD companies and 27 public agencies. The interviews spanned October 2017 to April 2018. The resulting MOD PPP typology consists of four service models: 1) First-Mile/Last-Mile (FMLM), 2) Low Density, 3) Off-Peak, and 4) Paratransit. The typology also includes two MOD asset contribution models: 1) Agency-Operated MOD and 2) Agency-Subsidized Private MOD. Lessons learned for limiting competition with fixed-route public transit include: a) if agencies have sufficient resources, they can generally maintain greater data access and control over the service with Agency-Operated MOD than Agency-Subsidized Private MOD; b) public agencies can supplement the Agency-Operated MOD model with Agency-Subsidized Private MOD during peak demand; c) public agencies sometimes encourage FMLM transfers to fixed-route public transit by creating service zones that divide trip generators and attractors and assigning one or two designated transfer stops to each zone; and d) one approach to protecting fixed-route public transit is to restrict Low-Density MOD services to trips that start and end outside a geofenced fixed-route service area.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2020

Travellers often combine transport services from different firms to form trip chains: e.g. first taking a train and then a bus. Integration of different forms of public and private transport into a single service is gaining attention with the concept of mobility as a service (MaaS). Usually the attention focuses on such things as ease of use for travellers, and shifting demand away from the car. We focus on the effects of MaaS on behaviour and welfare via the market structure of transportation. In particular, we analyse three archetypical ways in which MaaS could be operationalised: Integrator, Platform, and Intermediary. We find that these models differ strongly in how consumers and firms are affected by the availability of MaaS technologies. The Integrator model seems best for consumers and social welfare. It always leads to lower prices than free competition without MaaS and therefore benefits consumers; transport firm profits can be lower or higher. The Platform model tends to lead to an outcome that is relatively close to free competition without MaaS: prices can be higher or lower, while transport firm profits are lower. Finally, the Intermediary model tends to lead to much higher prices. Regulation of the price that the MaaS firm has to pay may lower prices, but, compared to the Integrator model, the change due to regulation is often small. So, even without price regulation, MaaS supply can already benefit consumers by increasing competition and removing serial marginalisation, even before we consider other benefits of MaaS such as information provision, ease of use, and a demand shift towards public transport.

Journal of Urban Technology

Three distinct trends have emerged that have disrupted the dominance of privately owned, combustion-powered car transport in the United Kingdom. First, the electric powertrain has emerged as an affordable means of transport, addressing various existing environmental concerns; second, new models of car ownership are developing, particularly in urban areas; third, the growth of "smart city" thinking emphasizes capitalizing on increased connectivity and data availability to create value. We define the combination of these three trends as the "tri-opt" of private transport-three disruptors that should not be considered in isolation but as interacting, an inflection of the "Energy Trilemma." This paper applies systems thinking and a mixed methodology of workshops, interviews, and systems modeling to the UK city of Bristol's Smart EV Transport Hub project to identify concepts that positively combine two or more of these three "opts." We demonstrate that there are many synergistic overlaps and that combinations potentially create significant value, with use cases that the current literature has explored the least are of the greatest perceived value. We thus recommend that public-private sector collaboration in private transport-particularly at the intersection of electric vehicles, smart cities, and mobility-as-aservice-is prioritized for further investigation.

Washington, DC: …, 2002

NOTE: The interests of Committee A1E14 include a variety of subjects: propulsion systems and fuels, vehicle design, information and communications systems, maintenance systems, and other systems and components that enhance the efficiency, safety, and attractiveness of transit and related technologies. This paper addresses a topic of particular interest to the committee. Land development and personal vehicle travel continue to outpace population growth. Efforts to manage this growth and the adverse impacts associated with it have been mostly ineffective. Promising technology solutions include telecommunications (telecommuting, electronic commerce, teleconferencing); small personal vehicles (electric bikes and neighborhood vehicles); and new "smart" transport modes (carsharing, "smart" paratransit). These technology-based options have the potential to be environmentally and economically superior to today's car-dominated system. Yet each has its drawbacks and none have flourished. Single-occupant vehicles continue to provide unparalleled versatility, privacy, comfort, and convenience. New mobility is a fundamentally new approach to transportation (Figure 1). The underlying premise is that existing alternatives to the privately owned automobile have faltered because they have been introduced individually and incrementally-not as part of a system. By integrating some of these technology-based options and providing a supportive policy context, synergies might result that would lead to a healthier, more efficient, and more equitable transportation system. COST AND CONVENIENCE OF NEW MOBILITY For alternatives to traditional single-occupant vehicles to succeed, they must provide one or more superior attributes; cost and convenience are primary. For new mobility services and options to flourish, households must choose to reduce the size of their fleet of conventional vehicles by one or more. If they don't, the alternatives will generally be economically unattractive. Vehicles provide a variety of benefits, such as home-like security and entertainment. They offer more than just a convenient conveyance of cargo and people. They are a social symbol and an office. Alternatives to today's privately owned vehicle can thrive in two

Transport Reviews, 2020

Urban mobility options have increased in recent years, assisted by the widespread availability of smart device software apps, geopositioning technology, and convenient electronic financial transactions. Multi-modal shared mobility consists of public transit systems and shared mobilities that support first/last mile travel, denoting the capability of Mobility as a Service (MaaS), and to stimulate additional non-private car travel demand. This paper reviews the supply and demand sides of implementation of multimodal shared mobility. It found that an abundance of shared modes of car, bike, and e-scooter that are linked to public transport, can improve transport accessibility to meet specific public preferences, reduce social inequality, and minimise dilemmas from the demand side. This study introduces government policy innovations and other supporting system to improve the implementation of multi-modal shared mobility. Government policies play a key role in supporting shared mobility and technology development. However, governments do not have much information about new products such as shared mobility, which creates difficulties in subsidising multi-modal shared mobility services and potentially leads to policy failures around shared mobility schemes. This study suggests that policy entrepreneurship in collaboration with other partners, policy innovation, and the notions of merit goods and second-best policymaking can enable policy initiatives towards multi-modal shared mobility and provide supporting arguments if policies encounter failures. Implementing multi-modal shared mobility requires a collaborative partnership for a paradigm shift: service providers and government must jointly set a merit-based business model, with the support of organisations to achieve improved infrastructure provision, and smart technology applications. The findings will assist the community, business providers and government policymakers to promote multi-modal shared mobility as a pathway towards more efficient, environmentally sustainable, and socially responsive mobility solutions.

Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on e-Business, 2014

Growing spontaneous mobility and decreasing affinity to automobile ownership in younger generations demand for an integrated service for intermodal mobility. In areas with lacking coverage of traditional public transportation, extending the coverage by integrating alternative services like car sharing, seems promising. Because of the very different nature, the collaboration between traditional public transport and emerging mobility services requires fundamental changes to business models. Current business models are designed under the assumption of separation and competition, which contradicts the idea of collaboration. Therefore, a restructuring of all main pillars of business models under the consideration of mutual interdependencies is required. This work defines such business model pillars and contributes a business model framework for providing different mobility services on centralized virtual markets. Basis is a joint platform which enables collaboration between multiple services to provide a collective intermodal mobility service to the customer.