Earlier this month, the City of Turin started accepting applications from residents who would like to try out the new Mobility as a Service (MaaS) platform that the municipal government is seeking to introduce. Successful candidates will be provided with ‘mobility vouchers’, which represent different packages combining various modes of transportation – an alternative to owning a private car. The deadline for applications is open until 2 August. After that, the pilot project will launch its testing phase, which will have a duration of 12 months.

MaaS is a concept that seeks to change our understanding of mobility: from tangible ownership to service

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is a new concept, which involves the integration of multiple public and private transport services (local public transport, car-sharing, bike-sharing, scooter-sharing, taxis, car rental, etc.) gathered in a single service and with a single payment system. All of these are offered on a dedicated platform and with multiple functions to respond in a personalized way to all the specific needs of urban travel and to which citizens can log in with their smartphones.

The City of Turin project, in collaboration with 5T start-up, is co-financed by the Ministry of Ecological Transition as part of a funding program for the improvement of air quality in urban areas and for the enhancement of public transport. Its objective is to test the MaaS in a real context for a duration of 12 months, confirming itself as the first city in Italy to do so.

To apply for the trial, which will start on 1 October 2021, one must be of age and reside in Turin, have an ISEE certificate of fewer than 50 thousand euros, not be the owner of a car or have it scrapped in 2020-2021 period. Furthermore, applicants must own a credit card or other electronic payment systems as well as a smartphone.

Once the requirements have been verified, a maximum of 1100 citizens will be admitted: the first 100, fully funded by the authorities, will be able to choose one of the packages included on the platform that provide different mixes of the various transport services available in the city (public transport, car- and bike-sharing, taxi and car rental). The other 1000 will be able to join by purchasing their own packages and operating in pay-per-use mode (which varies according to service consumption).

Source: The Mayor