Last February when we attended the Business Travel Show to reveal our new app – Mobilleo - we were constantly being asked to explain Mobility-as-a-Service. Industry knowledge about the term seemed restricted to “that’s about driverless cars” or questions like “is that to do with public transport?”. In less than 12 months, the landscape has changed and suddenly anyone worth their salt has latched onto the industry’s latest buzzword.
However, whilst autonomous vehicles and smart cities remain
popular topics of conversations, many in our industry still do not grasp the
true nature of Mobility-as-a-Service.
MaaS isn’t exclusive to public sector projects on providing
accessible transport, nor is it just a new shiny feature that car manufacturers
can entice fleet managers with. True Mobility-as-a-Service is the complete
offering of not just transport, but the entire journey.
At Mobilleo, we’re one of the very few true technology
providers to have created our own intellectual property that does
Mobility-as-a-Service for businesses. Our app does the usual flights, trains
and taxis but it also recognises the micro-elements of a journey like parking,
airport lounges, WiFi codes and places for a bite to eat.
The industry needs to stop equating Mobility-as-a-Service to
just a few facets of travel. It goes far beyond that in that it also involves
expense management, data analysis, employee morale and much more. Mobility-as-a-Service
isn’t a buzzword – it’s a business strategy, and it’s one that companies need
to be taking a much closer look at in 2018.
With this in mind here are some of our favourite terms and
explanations for those looking for a ‘cheat-sheet’ on MaaS.
What is Mobility-as-a-Service?
According to Mobilleo
CEO, Justin Whitston, Mobility-as-a-Service is the intersection of technology
and all aspects of travel. Its specific objective is to facilitate convenience,
cost and comfort of travel using technology. Tech allows users to not be
reliant on owning a car when instead they can quickly access a local car club.
It allows users to assess every transport option easily and make a decision
based on cost, speed, comfort and even how environmentally friendly it is.
Who is Mobility-as-a-Service for?
At the moment it’s largely a conversation topic amongst
fleet managers, financial directors and technologists but in reality, it’s for
everyone. Employees benefit from Mobility-as-a-Service as an alternative way to
book their travel – they don’t need to be told “this is the cheapest train
ticket so you’re going on this train” when they can find cheaper alternatives
for themselves. Personal assistants and travel managers benefit from a quicker
and more efficient way of finding, booking and paying for travel. Financial
directors benefit in that they no longer need to be reliant on company car
fleets that can prove costly and tiring to manage.
Does that mean Mobility-as-a-Service will replace the car?
No. Mobility-as-a-Service is about offering the car (or
company car) as one option of many to users. Businesses can look to reduce
their fleet size by adopting usership models like car clubs, taxis or public
transport but can still retain a fleet for those “I need it right now” moments.
MaaS apps like Mobilleo allow car owners to look at their
journey and compare how much it would cost them to take their own car versus
the train. It’s just a question of what’s most important for that individual
journey – cost, comfort or convenience?
What is Total Cost of Mobility?
Another favourite phrase of the industry – total cost of
mobility – is a term you can expect to see more and more in the coming months.
TCM refers to data analysis that reveals the true cost of your mobility. Too
often consumers and businesses only count the obvious travel costs like train
tickets or fuel. In fact, travel is often made up on far more
micro-transactions that get spent but never recorded. Parking tickets, WiFi
access codes, a cup of tea at the station – all of these are expensed but
usually never incorporated into the cost of the journey.
By analysing this data and working out the total cost of
mobility businesses can identify areas of wastage and make better decisions
regarding their travel policies.
How do I get Mobility-as-a-Service into my business?
MaaS isn’t something that you can turn on overnight, nor is
it something that requires major changes to the way your business operates. The
first step to adopting a true Mobility-as-a-Service approach is to understand
what you’re already doing.
Analysis of data such as costs, time spent booking travel
arrangements and frequency of travel can all help identify how close or far
away your business is from achieving MaaS efficiency.
Every day they are new initiatives and partnerships emerging
that encourage businesses and consumers to think differently about how they
travel. Ultimately the starting point is education – once you know what you’re
doing, you need to explain the process to staff and clearly identify the
benefits Mobility-as-a-Service can bring to employees.
What are the benefits of Mobility-as-a-Service?
Benefits include:
· A more productive workforce as staff no longer
need stress and spend valuable time scouring multiple travel websites and
companies
· A more empowered employee – MaaS apps like
Mobilleo places the control of business travel into the employee’s hand, but
carefully regulated with customisable travel policy settings such as spend
limits and ticket restrictions
· Better business decisions – access to
easy-to-digest data means that finance and fleet teams can assess the demand
for their fleet and assets when thinking about expanding or shrinking their
fleet
· Cost effective journeys – access to more options
will only create more price-effective travel and help your workforce truly
think about the cost of their journey
Mobilleo is exhibiting at the Business Travel Show in February where you can meet them and find out even more about MaaS. Continue your registration now for a free ticket at www.businesstravelshow.com.
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