What is MaaS?

The MaaS (Maas) (Mobility as a Service) is explained as follows in the material of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport "About MaaS (Mobility as a Service)".

Simply put, using ICT to optimize all forms of transportation so that individual travel is more convenient. This "all forms of transportation" includes not only public transportation such as railways and buses, but also share cycles and ride-sharing. When these transportation companies cooperate with each other, such as forming a partnership, it becomes possible to display the route so that it becomes a "optimum", and to complete the use registration, use reservation, and payment with one service or application.

Recently, many people use smartphone apps to search for transportation means and routes, and to pay for fares, etc., but this is also possible because of the development of "MaaS".

MaaSとスマートシティの関係

MaaSはスマートシティよりも身近にあると言えそうだね。

MaaSの一例

１．立川駅周辺エリア

２．新潟市エリア

３．配車サービス

What is Open Data?

One of the words I often hear with MaaS is 'open data'.
Open data is the disclosure of information such as train timetables, operation information, and line availability (Which train is in which section?) to the general public. Not only trains, but also airplanes, buses, and data held by local governments (Example: Where are the public toilets?).
Ministries such as the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, and local governments of prefectures and municipalities are working to spread it.
By using open data, ordinary companies and developers can provide not only route search and fare search but also applications that provide train location information. In addition, by combining some open data, we can say that we have become less hesitant to provide useful applications and services that we have never had before.

Image: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications "White Paper on Information and Communications in Japan 2019" The title of the chart is based on "Chart 3: -2 -6 -5 Changes in the number of local governments working on open data" on https://www.soumu.go.jp/johotsusintokei/whitepaper/ja/r01/pdf/01honpen.pdf) the website.

But why has it expanded so rapidly in the last few years?

One of the reasons for the

is the influence of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. Many people visit Tokyo, but many of them are foreigners or people with disabilities. It would be useful to have applications and services for that person. It is difficult for local governments, railway companies, and bus companies to develop applications and services for a variety of people, including foreigners and people with disabilities.

It's certainly hard to make and operate, and it costs a lot of money.

We can say that we made it possible for various companies and individuals to deploy applications and services by releasing open data.