The concept of Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) is rapidly gaining momentum. Parties involved are eager to learn more about its potential uptake, effects on travel behaviour, and users. We focus on the latter, as we attempt to reveal the profile of groups within the Dutch population that have a relatively high likelihood of adopting MaaS in the near future, apart from the actual supply side. MaaS is a transport concept integrating existing and new mobility services on a digital platform, providing customised door-to-door transportation options. Based on common denominators of MaaS as found in the literature, we have established five indicators to identify early adopters: innovativeness, being tech-savvy, needing travel information, having a multimodal mindset, and wanting freedom of choice. These five indicators are the building blocks of our Latent Demand for MaaS Index (LDMI), and were constructed using 26 statements and questions from a special survey conducted in 2018 among participants of the Netherlands Mobility Panel (MPN). The features derived from the MPN serve as independent variables in a regression analysis of the indicators used to ascertain the profile of early adopters. The results of our model indicate that early adopters are likely to be highly mobile, have a high socio-economic status, high levels of education and high personal incomes. Young people are more eager to adopt MaaS than older adults. Early adopters are healthy, active and frequent users of trains and planes. The characteristics of MaaS's early adopters overlap in numerous ways with those of innovative mobility services users and with the general characteristics of early adopters as found in innovation studies. ... Read more

The primary goal of this study is to quantify the expected effects of Mobility-as-a-Service on travel preferences and travel behaviour in the Netherlands. We do this by studying the expected changes in preferences and behaviour related to the following determinants of travel mode choice: travel time, travel costs, convenience and comfort, flexibility and freedom, willingness to share and certainty. We achieve this by collecting and analysing survey data, including a choice experiment. This allows to detect preferences and trade-offs that people would be willing to make for a system which still does not completely exist in reality. To make choice sets relevant for respondents (e.g. relating their choices to current travel behaviour), we select respondents from the Netherlands Mobility Panel (MPN), which is a household panel started in 2013 that maps the travel behaviour of a certain group of people and households over a period of consecutive years. Our research makes several contributions, including shedding light on the extent to which the promise of MaaS as a tool to assist in the shift towards more sustainable travel can be kept. ... Read more