Philipsen, Kai (2021) Mobility as a service in rural Netherlands. Master thesis.
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Abstract
This thesis investigates the potential of Mobility as a Service for improving rural accessibility. Accessibility in rural areas is dropping all over the developed world due to rural-urban migration and an ageing population. New mobility solutions are tested all over the world. Last decade with the rise of the internet and smartphones people can arrange more on-demand services from everywhere in the world. This development enables researchers and policymakers to think about other ways public transport could be organized. A recent invention in this perspective is Mobility as a Service. MaaS is a concept that integrates all sorts of public transportation and more (like e-bikes and cars) in one mobile app that people can use to plan their route and pay directly via their phone. With simple access to public transport solutions and integration of different types of transport, MaaS can potentially secure better accessibility in rural areas. Lower rural accessibility could lead to car dependency and eventually exclude groups that are reliant on public transportation or are unable to use a car. To research, the main question policymakers in Groningen and Drenthe concerning the MaaS pilot Groningen and Drenthe were interviewed via semi-structured interviews to reveal their thoughts and beliefs on the subject. After this, the interviews were analysed and main themes were discussed, as well as a SWOT analysis on MaaS in rural areas was performed. In analysing the interviews, the main result was that Mobility as a Service indeed can enhance rural accessibility by enabling chain travelling, multimodal travelling and data-driven information provision. However, changing travel behaviour and not perceiving accessibility issues are seen as the biggest retainer in curiosity towards Mobility as a Service and can cause the pilot to fail. Limitations of this thesis were that it was not possible to interview the government about Mobility as a Service and analyse their perspective and that Mobility as a Service was not operational during this research. This mainly had to do with the Corona crisis. For further research, hands-on Mobility as a Service experience could reveal specific needs in different geographical areas.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master) |
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| Degree programme: | Economic Geography: Regional Competitiveness and Trade (track) |
| Supervisor: | Plazier, P.A. |
| Date Deposited: | 25 Aug 2021 14:08 |
| Last Modified: | 25 Aug 2021 14:08 |
| URI: | https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3667 |
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