West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), partner at the SUITS project, was one of the four facilitators for the Mobility as a Service (MaaS) training event, with examples of good and bad practice to help the audience understand the practical processes of MaaS.
Representatives of the CONTACT group came together to create the event to help local authorities to really understand ‘the nuts and bolts’ of how to implement MaaS in their area. The event was been made possible through sponsorship from Innovate UK & Jacobs. The representatives of the CONTACT group that are supporting this event were Innovate UK, TDI, ITS UK, The IET, KTN, Jacobs & MCAV.
At the event, multiple workshops took place that covered different topics and elements of MaaS.
The topics that were covered included Governance & Contractual, Technology, Economics & Business models and Safety, Behaviour and Social factors.
- MaaS: Governance & Contracts, Andrew Page, WMCA and Lucy Pegler, Burges Salmon LLP
- MaaS and Technology, Khalid Nur, CATAPULT Transport Systems
WMCA were able to share their experience of developing MaaS in Birmingham, in co-operation with MaaS Global. The Whim service was launched as a beta product in April 2018 following co-ordination and contractual arrangements made between MaaS Global and suppliers/operators. The service utilises the Swift smartcard platform operated by WMCA. Development of the product is continuing and a formal launch of the product with a full range of modes is expected shortly
The event was aimed at the employees on the ground that would be part of the implementation of MaaS in their city or region.
Stay tuned for the report that is being produced and summarises the discussion and findings from the event.