FLOW bringing Mobility-as-a-Service to the UK for the first time

The FLOW project brings together a vertical stack of transport actors each of which is helping to move the industry into the digital age and enable Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) to be commercially launched to the public in 2017. The FLOW project will achieve the UK’s first fully functional and integrated implementation of MaaS to impact intermodal transport options, network capacity and operational cost savings. MaaS is the provision of public and private transportations across several modes of travel through a single payment platform that delivers and tracks usage using business and service models comparable to those used in the telecoms (from Pay-as-you-go (PAYG) to bundles of calls, SMS and data). Where a transport package could include bus and train measured in trips or distance with bike hire and on-demand taxi in a single bundle and paid as one transaction. MaaS is therefore both a business model and technical platform. It draws its profitability and utility from the reduction of privately owned cars, whilst integrating public transport and emerging car-sharing/pooling offerings into a single technical integration to simplify the purchase of multiple legs and modes into a single transaction. Its flexibility allows for different business models to be tested and resolved in the field. MaaS Global Ltd are the thought leaders and visionaries who have built a MaaS solution including a consumer app called Whim that is already integrating disparate transport service providers into one place in Nordic markets. Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) are driving transformation in the heart of the UK with a coordinated vertical of transport services. And TravelAi have launched the first software only solution for gathering transport customer data using smartphones and will add analytical and modelling tools to regional and urban transport stakeholders too. Together these actors are driven by a common purpose to serve the travelling public by providing increased service options, ease of use and increased value propositions through personalisation. The opportunity for these partners to come together to identify, test and refine business models to support a commercial and technically ready service offering in 2017 is a tremendously exciting prospect enabled by this InnovateUK First-of-a-Kind call to support innovative SMEs to engage and secure commercial clients. FLOW accelerates the commercialisation of a highly scalable solution to address InnovateUK priority areas of Connected Transport and Smart Resilient Sustainable Infrastructure. Additionally, working with both UK and international end clients opens up immediate export opportunities for TravelAi’s transport solutions.