Lessons from Finland: Urban planning in the age of mobility services

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) has the ultimate goal of providing convenient transportation options that keep people from owning personal cars. Such options could include online platforms and apps that link up ride-sharing, car-sharing and public transportation options. But the policy, regulatory and planning landscapes need to adapt as quickly as the technology. What's needed, what's happening, what's possible — and what could go wrong?

Gil Friend, chief sustainability officer for the city of Palo Alto, California, and Krista Huhtala-Jenks, senior officer for digitalization in transport and Mobility as a Service for Finland, took a deep dive into MaaSat the VERGE 16 conferenceto discuss what needs to happen to urban planning in the age of mobility services.

Huhtala-Jenks describes why Maas is part of Finland’s national strategy. "In Finland, we don’t want our regulation to be future-proof, but future-ready," said Huhtala-Jenks.