Early adopters of Mobility-as-a-Service in the Netherlands

Abstract

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.