Ensuring social sustainability in Mobility as a Service (MaaS) systems: some key factors

Lecture by Maria Nadia Postorino, researcher in residence for five months at the Paris IAS (One Health, Sustainability, European Studies in HSS chair with Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne) as part of the seminar "Responsible Regulation and Creation", co-organised by the ISJPS (CSR focus), the NECC working group (LabEx DYNAMITE), the Sorbonne Sustainable Development Association and the CHRONOS Association.

Presentation

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) systems integrate different mobility modes into a single platform for planning, booking and paying for multimodal journeys and are, potentially, a central element of the digital transformation of urban transport. They can help reduce private car use, support more sustainable modes of transport and improve accessibility, safety and quality of urban life. However, achieving these benefits requires clear regulation, coordinated governance and strong public-private partnerships. Various business models are presented, highlighting the importance of stable partnerships and user engagement.

About the seminar 

This seminar aims to address issues of responsible regulation of complex systems involving norms and ways of life, particularly in economic life and with regard to sustainability standards. Issues of environmental and social sustainability, which are of crucial importance today, lead to a desire to understand the functioning of such complex systems in a way that is guided by value judgements, finalised by long-term ambitions, and even planned.

This seminar seeks, for example, to mobilise businesses in the case of CSR, financial actors for “impact finance”, and artists in the case of cultural initiatives seeking to promote “sustainable” perspectives through influencing representations and attitudes. In these (and other) contexts, assumptions, models and theories are used, the handling of which raises issues such as those addressed in the emerging field of intellectual ethics and “epistemic responsibility” studies within sectors of activity. The simultaneous use of different types of norms (ethical, epistemic, legal, economic, ecological, technical, etc.) also requires addressing issues of porosity and reciprocal influence between normative orders.

Finally, the use of standards raises the issue of the relationship with creativity: how can we regulate without stifling inventiveness and innovation? How can we address complexity while showing respect for people and their initiatives? In this respect, reflection on norms and complexity can usefully be linked to the challenges of the relationship with novelty in literature and the arts as well as in the world of science, technology and economic initiative. Better integration of reference theories and practices geared towards sustainability should contribute to the interdisciplinary analysis of the foundations of responsible regulation.