Creating effective MaaS systems: Using a systems engineering approach to design an open (e)MaaS architecture

In order to combat various sustainability challenges in mobility, the concept of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) seems a promising direction. To ensure that MaaS can be embedded into our society, an appropriate foundation on which a thriving MaaS ecosystem can develop itself needs to be established. This paper presents the use of a Systems Engineering approach to design a MaaS system architecture that can provide this foundation. We elaborate on two example cases to demonstrate and evaluate this approach. The first case comprises an overall architectural design for a MaaS system focusing on a functional decomposition, whereas the second case provides a functional design of an Application Programing Interface (API) for communication between MaaS Provider and Transport Operator. In the end, it is concluded that a systems approach can be beneficial to establish an effective MaaS ecosystem.