Exploring tourist preference for Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) – A latent class choice approach

• Published in: Transportation research. Part A, Policy and practice Vol. 174; p. 103750
• Main Authors: Chen, Ching-Fu, Fu, Chiang, Chen, Yu-Chun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.08.2023
• Subjects: Attitudes; Latent class choice model; Mobility-as-a-Service; Service bundles; Tourist preference; Attitudes; Service bundles; Latent class choice model; Tourist preference; Mobility-as-a-Service
• ISSN: 0965-8564; 1879-2375
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2023.103750

Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) provides travelers with a single digital travel platform that integrates information, booking, and payment with considerable discounts. Existing MaaS studies mainly focus on commuters’ daily mobility instead of tourists’ mobility during their stay at destinations. However, the tourist market is a potential but neglectedMaaS market. To explore tourist preference for MaaS bundled services, this research examines the preference heterogeneity of tourist-specific MaaS bundles among 491 Taiwanese tourists by using the latent class choice model. The choice experiments are designed by seven MaaS bundle attributes, including public transport, shared bike, shared e-moped, shared car, shopping discount, attraction ticket discount and price. Three tourist classes, namely, MaaS Skeptics, MaaS Supporters, and MaaS Enthusiasts, are identifiedbased upon threeattitudinallatent variables (hedonic motivation,Attitude toward MaaS and mobile application factor) as well as socioeconomic characteristics. The resultsprovided evidence of a tourist-specific MaaS market andpreference heterogeneity among various tourist classesin Taiwan. Class profiles and scenario analyses of pro-MaaS propensity for three classes were conducted to provide deeper insights into preference variations. Implications and recommendations for developing more customized MaaS bundles for tourists are provided herein.