The role of local government in governance and diffusion of Mobility-as-a-Service: exploring the views of MaaS stakeholders in Stockholm

Cities around the world constitute an emerging market for Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS). For local governments, MaaS may offer opportunities to reduce ownership and use of private cars for passenger transport, thereby easing pressures on urban space, the local environment and global climate. By drawing on literature related to socio-technical transitions and the diffusion of environmental innovations, this article analyses survey results of MaaS stakeholders in the City of Stockholm, where several initiatives to facilitate development of MaaS are underway. The results illustrate what stakeholders do and consider important, which kinds of barriers, opportunities and challenges are perceived, and what type of expectations stakeholders share about the role of the City administration in the development of MaaS in Stockholm. In sum, results indicate an important, yet delicate role for local governments in facilitating MaaS, whilst suggesting the need for regional or national regulatory solutions in the longer-term, to ensure legitimacy and transparency.