India’s shift from mass transit to MaaS transit: Insights from Kochi

Mitashi Singh

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 2020, vol. 131, issue C, 219-227

Abstract: Kochi is the first Indian city to take concrete action on multimodal integration. The city is shifting from the recently hyped mass transit-based mobility to Mobility as a Service (MaaS), by weaving traditionally dominant transport modes – water ferry, auto-rickshaw and city bus along with the newly operational Kochi Metro Rail into one service fabric. This paper explores the case of Kochi based on the core characteristics of MaaS and attempts to understand how the new system is different from the traditional system post the multimodal integration anchored by Kochi Metro Rail Limited. The case reveals that Kochi’s ‘MaaS’ model has fostered several systemic and functional changes in the city public transport. Institutional rearrangement, inclusion of actors, recognition to informal transport service, upgradation and re-organisation of resources for operational efficiency, solution of territorial conflicts - these are a few of the positive changes. The paper highlights MaaS’s ability to augment mobility governance and service provision specific to developing nations’ context. It also projects a learning curve for other Indian cities to prioritise a MaaS strategy over construction of mass transit in isolation.

Keywords: Kochi Metro; Mass transit; Mobility as a Service; Multimodal integration; Intermediate public transport (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856418310061
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:transa:v:131:y:2020:i:c:p:219-227

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/supportfaq.cws_home/regional
https://shop.elsevie ... _01_ooc_1&version=01

DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2019.09.037

Access Statistics for this article

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice is currently edited by John (J.M.) Rose

More articles in Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().