“This is a service for people who can mobilise themselves”: Age and gender perspectives of multi-modal mobility as a service

• MaaS could contribute to greater transport equity, but the literature is mixed. Qualitative insight is needed. • Results from focus groups with 146 individuals were analysed with respect to the age and gender of participants. • In-app safety and comfort info could help women and older travellers. Careful marketing is required to engage the latter. • Without broader system reform, information provision alone does little for inclusivity and risks contributing to inequity. Mobility as a Service (MaaS) has the potential to contribute to greater equity in transport, but it also holds the potential to contribute to greater inequity. The outcome depends on how MaaS is designed, implemented, and marketed. Evaluations of existing systems have yielded mixed results in this regard. Therefore, input from prospective end-users remains crucial for designing systems that cater to different people’s needs. This research gathered that input, exploring people’s experiences of multi-modal travel (i.e., the combination of two or more transport modes in one trip) and their perceptions of MaaS, in the context of age and gender, factors consistently highlighted in discussions of transport inclusivity and equity. Online focus groups were held with 146 residents of a region in southern England in which a MaaS app is being trialled. Thematic analyses were conducted on the responses to three questions: one regarding multi-modal travel, one addressing potential success and failure points for MaaS, and one exploring the types of information MaaS could include. Results highlighted some important differences in the needs of different groups and are discussed in terms of the challenges to overcome and the opportunities to capitalise on when designing inclusive MaaS systems that contribute to greater transport equity.