Sampo Hietanen, founder and CEO of Finland-based MaaS Global, agrees with most other industry experts that public transit should form the “core” of the mobility services on offer in any MaaS app or platform. But he contends that it would be a mistake for the agency itself to control the platform.
That could create a conflict of interest, since the agency would likely favor its own transport services over those of other mobility providers, which could include such private providers as ride-hailing companies, taxis, car-share firms and short-term car rental agencies, Hietanen said in an interview with Mobility Payments. This would undermine the ultimate goal of MaaS–coaxing consumers out of their cars by offering them the ability to conveniently plan, book and pay for multimodal door-to-door transport.
“That’s (agency control) not a scalable model,” he said, calling transit agencies “monopolies.” “It might seem like a good idea in the beginning, but the individual freedom to choose is just more powerful than for us to kind of want to guide them around.”
