Written by Eric Bruun Ph.D. Senior Researcher, Kyyti Group
Rural depopulation continues in many regions. This has contributed to the elimination of fixed route services, which works a hardship on many people for whom it was a lifeline. In turn, this contributes to the pressure for individuals and businesses to relocate to cities. This is a dynamic of decline which needs to be stemmed not only for the benefit of the residents but to reduce the pressure on housing and infrastructure in cities.
Rural transport has long suffered from a lack of non-private vehicles. It is thus very important to make the most of the limited services available. Historically, this has been hampered by both a lack of a means of sharing information between operators and by legal restrictions on commingling of funds, travellers, and the often sensitive traveller information. MaaS solves these issues from a technical standpoint by tracking all expenditures and use, leaving only the institutional issues still to be solved. Where leadership exists, MaaS can be expected to proliferate.
Rural MaaS can lower costs for public agencies currently paying for low productivity trips to take people to health care, by consolidating trips in an efficient manner. Furthermore, trips for people who don’t own cars like teenagers trying to get to the town can be scheduled opportunistically when there is spare capacity, thereby reducing the need for chauffeuring. By reversing the decline in mobility, rural MaaS plays a role in a rural renaissance.
We hope you found this article helpful. Read more about Kyyti DRT Platform and if you have any further questions regarding this topic please contact Kyyti Group MaaS experts.