Giving Thanks for the Arrival of MaaS

We are once again approaching my favorite holiday from my adopted home, Thanksgiving. Britain, where I’m from, has its own set of events and traditions throughout the year, which is why holidays like Halloween and Thanksgiving were relatively new experiences following my move to San Diego nearly ten years ago. And while you’re less likely to see me in a costume at Halloween, you can be sure that I’ll be reflecting this Thanksgiving whilst also enjoying good food, drink, and football! (Yes, the American kind. Rise Up!)

Of course, it’s important to remember that gratitude should be practiced throughout the year, and not just at the end of November.

This year, I am particularly thankful for the step-change we’ve seen on our journey toward Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS). MaaS remains the North Star (sorry to mix-holiday references) for our work at Cubic, and it is a joy to watch as we edge closer to this goal in cities like San Francisco, Chicago, and New York.

With that in mind, and with Thanksgiving around the corner, here are a few Thanksgiving-themed reasons to be thankful for the arrival of MaaS:

1. Getting out of town: The holidays offer a chance for many of our team members to escape the office and travel back to their hometowns, in many cases leaving cities like San Diego and Atlanta for a taste of small-town living. By encouraging agencies and service providers to work together, MaaS allows us to get out of silos and think on a larger, multi-modal level.
2. Seats at the table: Thanksgiving is truly the perfect holiday for “the more, the merrier.” In the same way, there are always more seats for transportation providers at the MaaS table. One of the most exciting things I’ve read this month was this article from Automotive World on engaging automakers in MaaS solutions. We’re going to need a bigger table!
3. Making healthy choices: Thanksgiving is often associated with unhealthy choices like overeating, but from well-balanced recipes to your local Turkey Trot, there are plenty of ways to make Thanksgiving a healthy holiday. MaaS is a healthy choice in and of itself, as it leads to the kind of competition that drives the world further. One of my favorite things to watch from my position at Cubic is how forward-thinking cities throughout the world are competing to develop the most innovative, traveler-friendly MaaS system.
4. The infamous casserole: the Thanksgiving table is full of those dishes that bring together multiple ingredients for a dish that’s more than the sum of its parts, like the green bean casserole. The same concept is at the heart of MaaS: one payment account combining each mode of transportation, resulting in a service that delivers true additional value to each traveler. I’m thankful for our strategy team who preaches the benefits of payment integration every day.
5. More dishes on the table: Thanksgiving is a time to go big, bringing all of our favorite foods out for the big feast. In the same way, MaaS allows us to go big by bringing every possible mode of transportation into the fold. From buses and trains to scooters and bicycles, MaaS makes it easy to choose the best transportation option for your commute. And who wouldn’t be thankful for the chance to pay for a commuter rail, water taxi, and scooter with the same method of payment, and perhaps as an integrated price, on the commute into the office?
6. Maintaining traditions: Each family holds traditions at the heart of their Thanksgiving holiday. Just as generations of parents choose what traditions to pass down through the holidays, it’s important that policymakers choose what values are at the core of their transportation strategy. MaaS is not one size fits all; instead, it can be tailored to meet your region’s specific needs.
7. Using our leftovers: I say this humbly, but the British are masters of making the most of our leftovers. Whether it’s turning a roast chicken into a delicious pot pie, or making a hearty stew out of leftover vegetables, we know how to make good use of our resources. In MaaS, our “leftovers” are the data created throughout the transportation experience. When we make good use of this leftover data, we create new services that constantly enhance the traveler’s experience.

Wishing all of my friends at Cubic and everyone else around the world a wonderful Thanksgiving, and a holiday season filled with love and gratitude.