Mobility, unlocked: The future of city transit
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Late for a meeting across town, you check a map app for the fastest route, toggle to the city’s transit site for schedules, and work out options for traveling the “last mile” from the train station to your destination. You think through the logistics—metro card, e-tickets, scanning app, method of payment—for each leg of the trip. Then you open a ride-hailing app as backup.
MaaS: Cities slicker
It’s a fragmented, frustrating experience, which has prompted an innovative response. Mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) integrates various modes of transportation into a single, seamless platform—usually an app or website. In some cities it’s already a reality. Platforms like Jelbi in Berlin, or Floya in Brussels are prime examples of MaaS in action, and similar schemes have been established in cities as far apart as Sydney, Bangalore, Abu Dhabi, and Denver. By aggregating data across different transport services, MaaS apps offer users a unified platform to plan, book, and pay for travel while also providing cities and businesses with critical insights into mobility patterns. At their best, they give users greater flexibility, streamline costs, and mitigate traffic congestion and carbon emissions by reducing the need for car trips.
They’re not without their challenges. One of the first MaaS apps, Helsinki’s Whim, folded last year because of problems with its subscription model. MaaS adoption is often impeded by technical, operational, regulatory, and human challenges, too. These include issues around data integration and standardization, API and platform compatibility, competition between service providers, and poor user experiences coupled with slow shifts in user behavior. The direction of travel is clear, though: Urban mobility is getting an upgrade through innovations which prioritize seamlessness and enhance interoperability.
Journey to enlightenment
The potential of MaaS extends beyond convenience. The real power lies in the insights generated by millions of journeys. These insights are turbocharged by the application of AI to the underlying data, helping cities to optimize transit routes, reduce inefficiencies, and guide infrastructure investments. They also enable businesses to analyze commuting trends, predict workforce needs, and enhance sustainability efforts by measuring and managing their carbon footprints.
Over the past decade, integrated transit payment systems have encouraged the use of sustainable public transport worldwide by allowing commuters to seamlessly switch between buses, subways, and trains with a single payment method. That breakthrough in convenience helped drive multimodal transit adoption in cities from London to Tokyo. MaaS builds on that foundation, expanding the model through digital mobility wallets and app-based platforms that link public and private transportation in a fluid transit experience.
Through advanced data analytics and AI, for example, MaaS providers can forecast demand surges, adapt dynamic pricing in real-time, and facilitate predictive maintenance for public transportation fleets. By standardizing and sharing mobility data across operators, cities could reduce bottlenecks, enhance safety, and create more user-centric urban transportation policies.
Tokenization: A ticket to ride
Tokenization is a proven way to secure and streamline payments. It replaces sensitive payment card details with a unique, randomly generated code—the token—to protect the actual cardholder information during transactions.
This is what happens when you tap your phone to pay, for example. By assigning digital tokens to mobility services and transactions, MaaS platforms can create more secure, flexible, and interoperable experiences.
Tokenization could enable:
- Seamless multi-modal payments: Users could store a universal mobility token in their digital wallet, allowing them to switch between transit options effortlessly.
- Personalized mobility subscriptions: Employers and cities could offer customized MaaS packages tailored to individual commuting habits, reducing reliance on private vehicles.
- Enhanced security and privacy: Tokenized transactions would minimize the need for sharing sensitive payment details across multiple platforms, addressing concerns around data protection.
If integrated effectively, tokenization could accelerate MaaS adoption by improving user trust, simplifying transactions, and unlocking new business models for transportation providers. No more juggling four apps just to get to work—one token, one tap, every route.
The road ahead
The trajectory of MaaS adoption will be shaped by how well data is harnessed—both to enhance user experience and to drive public and private sector innovation. Advances in AI-driven analytics, new tokenization use cases, and real-time data sharing could unlock the full potential of MaaS—making mobility smarter, more efficient, and more adaptable to future urban challenges.
By embracing the power of data and emerging technologies, MaaS could fulfill its potential as a transformative force in urban mobility.
Ken Moore is the chief innovation officer at Mastercard.