What is Mobility on Demand

Remix

In your job as a planner, we know you're often fielding basic questions about public transit. We hope this Remix Primer blog series offers another resource as you educate your constituents.

Mobility on Demand (MOD) brings local public transportation and private transit options into one place. With the use of advanced technologies, available transit choices are visually showcased to demonstrate how they can work together to benefit the traveler and their city.

The focus is two-folded: first to provide mobility systems, and second, to create mobility services. MOD planning software supports cities by creating innovative and exciting inter-connective transportation systems. MOD systems use existing public and private infrastructure and interpret designs for future projects to provide safe and efficient transportation where it’s needed most.

MOD can also be defined as the formulation of a single mobility service. It combines public transportation services and private transit options to create a user-friendly all-inclusive method to safely and efficiently manage and complete point-to-point trips for each user.

In these two distinct but connected ways, MOD is focused on the traveler, making their ease of use, convenience, price point, and choice in personal mobility the primary focus in the development of both MOD systems and services.

Types of Vehicles Used for MOD

MOD is more than just one system, it is a technologically advanced transportation network of all available transit services, including shared, public, and private. Imagine having the choice of any travel option that provides the most efficient way to arrive at your destination. That’s what MOD provides. Here are some of the options:

  • Ride-sharing services
  • Public buses
  • Commuter trains
  • Light Rail
  • Monorails
  • HOV Lanes
  • Taxi Services
  • Self-driving vehicles
  • Purpose-built vehicles
  • Airport shuttles
  • University shuttle services
  • Autonomous mobility on demand
  • Corporate transportation/shuttles
  • Bridge/Tunnel connecting shuttles
  • Limousines
  • Vans for disabled access
  • Shared micro-mobility 
  • City bikes
  • Scooters
  • Personal transport 
  • Walking
  • Bicycle
  • Mopeds
  • Motorcycles
  • Passenger cars
  • Segways
  • Scooters
  • Skates
  • Skateboards
  • Rollerblades
  • Electric fleets
  • Air mobility transport
  • Paratransit/Dial-a-ride
  • Wheelchair accessible transport

Primary Purpose of Mobility on Demand (MOD)

The primary purpose of MOD is to create mobility ecosystems that provide access to transportation to all members of society. MOD offers a method of easing congestion, positively affecting climate change, lessening the need for single-occupancy vehicles, assisting disabled persons in getting to their destinations, and sustaining viability in areas with limited transit opportunities.

Purpose on a Broad Scale

Particularly for developing countries, MOD uses transit as a means of giving more people access to education, services, and jobs. Similarly, in dense urban cities across our nation, available transportation is critical in defining where you choose to live, eat, work, and learn.

In the U.S., your zip code signifies where you live and dictates the opportunities you may have to move forward in your life. By extending transportation options, more citizens can access all parts of a city and beyond without ever owning a vehicle. MOD systems and services shape the future of the individual as well as their city.

Purpose on a Community Scale

MOD supports a level of connectivity where all modes of transportation work together. Combining mobility services fills potential gaps in current transportation offerings and enables safe, reliable, and efficient point-to-point trips for all users.

Connected travelers can use real-time data to retrieve pricing information, transportation schedules, directions, digital board passes, estimated waiting times, walking distances, reservations for micro-transit options, and arrival time at their destination.

User preferences are integrated with data that allows travelers to choose routes by shortest travel time, lowest cost, fewest transfers, availability of micro-transit like bikes or scooters, and estimated walking distance.

What are the Benefits of MOD?

New methods of transit in dense urban areas are instrumental in alleviating congestion on the roads and improving travel times for the user. By using and creating a more efficient travel system, more users and stakeholders benefit.

MOD also offers constant monitoring, including instant notification of delays, arrival/departure times, price increases, or schedule changes. Yet, the advantages of MOD don’t end there.

With cloud connectivity and interconnected modes of transportation working together, MOD offers the best route for the allotted destination. This neutral offering can provide an otherwise unknown transit possibility for the user to achieve the complete trip as envisioned.

What are the Challenges of MOD?

MOD is especially valuable in meeting the challenges of dense urban areas by:

  • Reducing congestion
  • Offering an affordable choice of travel method
  • Solving the difficulty of transit deserts
  • Figuring out how to replace fixed-route costs during off-peak hours

However, the challenge of getting a traveler from point to point continues to require more innovative solutions. Shared mobility solutions may be the answer to such challenges by creating a mobility-on-demand market.

Micro-mobility in particular may be useful in solving the first mile/last mile problem some transportation systems face. In those scenarios, initial public transportation is either not accessible, or the distance to the traveler’s final destination after getting off transit is just too far.

Shared micro-mobility involves the use of a city bike, scooter, or other low-speed travel option that is shared by travelers and provides short-term access to transportation on an as-needed basis. It may be free or require a nominal fee. This shared system supports the destination side, where public transportation gets the traveler closer to their destination, but perhaps nowhere near it.

The shared mobility-on-demand market will likely trend in one of two ways: slow and steady growth or a transformative jump that changes the face of travel as we know it.

What is the Future of MOD Transit?

The term Mobility on Demand (MOD) is used by the Department of Transportation (DOT) to represent its vision for future mobility. DOT has conceptualized a safe, reliable, mobile ecosystem that supports complete delivery trips for people, goods, and services.

The expansion of e-hailing, urban air mobility, autonomous travel, and other diverse mobility solutions has changed how we travel. Riders now have many cost-effective and convenient alternatives to vehicle ownership, and their options will continue to grow over the next decade and years beyond.

Today, Remix MOD planning software empowers cities to plan the best possible transportation systems. We work with over 350 cities across five continents, influence hundreds of city projects around the globe, and impact more than 240 million people worldwide. Contact us today to discover the best MOD solutions for your city.