Journal of Transport and Land Use

Mobility as a service and socio-territorial inequalities: A systematic literature review

André Soares Lopes

CIAUD, Lisbon School of Architecture, Universidade de Lisboa

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5583-9255

Maurício Orozco-Fontalvo

CERIS, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0514-4647

Filipe Moura

CERIS, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7749-8490

David Vale

CIAUD, Lisbon School of Architecture, Universidade de Lisboa

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1403-0628

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5198/jtlu.2023.2273

Keywords: MaaS, Inequality, Transport justice, Accessibility, Wellbeing

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Abstract

Mobility as a service is a potential solution to mobility problems; however, it raises concerns about its relationship with socio-territorial inequalities (STIs). This paper contains a systematic literature review of real-world MaaS applications and their effects on STIs. From the principle of distributive justice, we adopted the Resources, Opportunities, Outcomes, and Wellbeing (ROOW) approach to assess cases. From 2009 papers on MaaS, we identified 20 that stood as real-world applications that considered equity impacts. Most studies were undertaken in Europe and Asia, neglecting countries in South America, Africa, and other low-income countries. They did not quantify the societal advantages of MaaS, while only a handful investigated the influence of MaaS over STIs. Results indicate that MaaS schemes contain at least three factors that may drive inequality: the lack of basic resources to enter the system, the systems’ limited geographic coverage, or MaaS users may simply not gain from the system’s intended accessibility benefits. In conclusion, MaaS could improve trip planning and access to new modes and low-density areas, but it is still perceived as expensive and only accessible to digitally literate people. This should be considered when defining MaaS governance, which remains (to date) underdeveloped, hindering private-public collaboration.

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Author Biographies

André Soares Lopes, CIAUD, Lisbon School of Architecture, Universidade de Lisboa

Post-doc researcher

CIAUD, Lisbon School of Architecture, University of Lisbon -

Maurício Orozco-Fontalvo, CERIS, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa

CERIS, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon - PhD candidate

Filipe Moura, CERIS, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa

Filipe Moura is an Associate Professor of Transportation Systems in the Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture at the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST-DECivil), University of Lisbon (former Technical University of Lisbon). 

David Vale, CIAUD, Lisbon School of Architecture, Universidade de Lisboa

Associate Professor
Faculty of Architecture, Universidade de Lisboa

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