Explorative evidence of multimodal mobility packages from a choice-ba...

Electrification, automatization, connectivity and sharing represent the major trends in the transport sector (European Commission, 2019), which is the greatest contributor to climate change with almost a quarter of all global energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (IEA, 2016a, 2016b). Despite all the attention and measures regarding clean technologies, e.g. electric vehicles (EVs), the current transport system is still inefficient and unsustainable as private cars are still the core of day-to-day mobility. One promising concept promoting more sustainable transport behaviour is Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS). Till now, numerous MaaS-related pilot programs have been implemented across Europe and beyond. So far, most of the work has been done by practitioners and there is still lack of scientific research, especially regarding the configuration of multimodal mobility packages. Building on the work by Matyas and Kamargianni (2018) we conducted a choice-based conjoint experiment representative for Austrian citizens (N = 590). The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of different attributes of multimodal mobility bundles/packages on purchase intention. Our key findings can be summarized as follows: the most important attribute is price (monthly payment), followed by transport modes (transport modes that are included in the package), transfer time (between the different transport modes on a trip) and reachability (of the first transport mode). The last two attributes (transferability and allotment expiration) seem to be “nice-to-have”, rather than “must-have”. Attribute preference, however, varies among different segments of potential customers, underlining the need for individualisation and customised packages. We discuss implications of our findings for future research as well as practitioners and policymakers.