▲ Open MaaS Plan (Image Source: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport)

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport aims to launch nationwide MaaS app by the end of the year
Public call for private cooperation platform operators scheduled

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that it will launch a MaaS service within 2023 that allows users to combine and use various modes of transportation more quickly and conveniently through a single app.

The Metropolitan Area Wide-Area Transportation Committee of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (hereinafter the Committee) announced on the 18th that it is promoting a public-private cooperation pilot project for nationwide MaaS services for the public.

MaaS stands for Mobility as a Service and refers to a service that connects various modes of transportation as if they were a single mode of transportation, providing optimal route guidance, reservations, and payments for all modes of transportation through a single platform.

Currently, since it is common practice to search for transportation and check the optimal route using a smartphone when traveling, and then book and pay for the specific mode of transport one desires, there was an inconvenience of having to use different mobile applications (hereinafter referred to as apps) multiple times.

On the other hand, once nationwide MaaS is realized, route search, reservation, and payment services, which were previously provided through separate transportation apps, will be implemented in a single app. Through this, it is expected that the public will be able to combine and use various modes of transportation more quickly and conveniently.

Since data linkage between various modes of transportation is key to realizing MaaS, the Metropolitan Transport Commission [regarding] various transportation data as oneWe plan to establish a foundation for gathering and sharing (hereinafter Open MaaS).

To this end, intermediary service providers to build and operate Open MaaS targeting public institutions will be solicited to establish relevant data standards and infrastructure systems.

In addition, we plan to launch a nationwide MaaS app within the year by soliciting private sector cooperation platform operators to ensure that integrated data can be provided through various services.

The announcement period is from January 19 to February 17, selection will be made at the end of February, development will begin in March, and the nationwide launch of the MaaS app is planned for December.

With the commercialization of nationwide MaaS, a paradigm shift is expected to occur where transportation methods move away from the existing concept of separate individual modes of transport and become seamlessly connected as a single system. Additionally, various user-customized products, such as flat-rate and subscription plans, are anticipated to be launched.

Lee Seong-hae, Chairman of the Metropolitan Area Wide-Area Transportation Committee of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, stated, “This pilot project will lay the foundation for the integration of various transportation services,” adding, “It is expected to lead to linkages with other fields such as tourism, accommodation, and content, thereby creating various added values such as the revitalization of new industries.”

According to a survey by PWC, although the commercialization level of MaaS is currently low, the global market is projected to reach $1.6 trillion by 2030, growing rapidly at an average annual rate of 25%.