NFC TIMES Exclusive Insight – Mobility as a service is expected to reshape the traditional transport industry, and while it is just getting rolling, the pace is starting to pick up. The latest bit of momentum came this week when global ride-hailing service Uber announced it will enable mass transit riders to buy and redeem tickets from its app in a second U.S. city, Las Vegas.
That follows Uber’s support for transit ticketing in Denver last May. Uber offers trip planning for bus, light rail and other modes of transit in both cities and in others. While both Denver and Las Vegas are mid-tier cities located in the American West–where the vast majority of transit is done with private automobiles–there are signs that Uber plans to step up its Mobility-as-a-Service, or MaaS, initiatives.
There were reports this week of Uber’s intention to enable mass transit planning and ticketing in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia’s two largest cities. All told, Uber’s separate “Transit” unit already provides trip planning in its app in 15 cities, offering what it says is real-time information and end-to-end directions to users. Uber could add payments and ticketing/passes to these cities, as well.
