UK: Transport for West Midlands has appointed FOD Mobility Group to design, develop and deliver a mobility-as-a-service app based on its Mobilleo MaaS platform.
Users will be able to plan journeys, receive live travel information and book and pay for local transport options including buses, trains, trams, e-scooters, walking, cycle hire, taxis, demand-responsive transport, car rental, car club and parking.
According to TfWM the app will provide ‘the most convenient, cost-effective and sustainable option, tailored to their individual preferences’. Its ambition is to offer people ‘one app, one account everywhere they could want to go’.
TfWM is working on the project with a range of partners including consultants Arcadis which is providing behaviour change advice, Brompton Bike Hire and Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Car Club. ITO World is providing provide real-time public transport data, while Euclid and Unicard are responsible for integration with the Swift smart travel scheme. Local authorities and transport operators will also collaborate on app development, which is being funded from the Department for Transport’s Future Transport Zone programme.
‘We are working with some of the best British tech and mobility companies to design an app which is easy to use, convenient and offers great value’, said TfWM Executive Director Anne Shaw on July 3. ‘This will be a one-stop shop for anyone looking to travel around the West Midlands.’
In March 2018, TfWM launched what it said was the first MaaS trial in the UK market in partnership with Finnish technology company MaaS Global, which manages the Whim app first rolled out in Helsinki.
