The opening and signing ceremony of the “Mobility as a Service” ROTA project, supported by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure and the Transport, Maritime and Communication Research Center, implemented in collaboration with PTT Technology and INNOVA, and to be first applied in Konya Metropolitan Municipality, was held under the auspices of the Information Technologies and Communication Authority.
The opening of the program was attended by Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan, President of the Transport, Maritime and Communication Research Center (UDHAM) Selami Yazıcı, Mayor of Konya Metropolitan Municipality Uğur İbrahim Altay, and accompanying bureaucrats.
Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan made important statements about the transport sector in his speech at the opening and signing ceremony of the “Mobility as a Service” (MaaS) platform ROTA project.
Stating that significant developments have occurred in the contents of “Intelligent Transportation Systems” (ITS) with the integration of information and communication technologies into the transport sector, Sayan expressed that the “Mobility as a Service” (MaaS) concept has gained an important place in the transport sector in this context.
Our goal is to integrate transport modes into a single system to make transportation more efficient, comfortable, and accessible
Sayan, who stated that the main goal of MaaS services is to integrate transport modes into a single system to make transportation more efficient, comfortable, and accessible, used the following expressions: “MaaS enables people to use different transport options such as public transport, car rental, bicycles, or electric scooters together, promising to reduce personal vehicle ownership, traffic congestion, time spent in traffic, transport costs, and environmental pollution.”
Noting that MaaS services can be easily accessed today via mobile applications or websites in line with the fast and practical flow of the modern world, Sayan said that this allows people to easily compare and reserve their transport preferences.
Sayan stated that MaaS services, thanks to their ability to offer services from many different perspectives, including personal use as well as public transport, shared mobility services, and software for commercial use, also provide suitable conditions in areas outside the transport sector, such as services, multimedia, trade, health, and insurance. Sayan, who said that MaaS is actively used in many important cities around the world due to its multi-purpose nature and easy accessibility, said: “As a result, MaaS is on its way to becoming the biggest trend that the transport sector is interested in today. The global value of the mobility ecosystem is expected to increase significantly by 2030. This is a quite promising indicator for MaaS applications.”
This application will also make great contributions to the national economy
Touching upon the fact that the widespread use of MaaS technologies will also make great contributions to the national economy, Sayan said: “By integrating with the ‘Turkey Card – TRKart’ system developed by PTT, which allows access to public transport vehicles in different cities with a single payment method, a common card or mobile application can be used in public transport services. Thus, contributions to the national economy will be made by unifying different payment methods within local governments.”
Stating that developments in the technology field directly affect the success of MaaS, Sayan listed the key technologies enabling MaaS as follows: “We can cite technologies such as smartphones that enable real-time tracking of vehicles, big data that collects and analyzes large amounts of data from various transport providers and users to optimize routes and transport options, the Internet of Things (IoT), payment technologies that enable payments through a single platform, blockchain, and artificial intelligence.”
We are shaping our work according to the “Century of Turkey” vision
Deputy Minister Sayan, who spoke about the current importance of technology dominance and the many investments made in this field, concluded his speech with the following words: “At this point, the importance of our President’s ‘Domestic and National Technology Move’ becomes evident once again. As the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, we always keep this vision in mind both in terms of infrastructure and regulation in the information and communication technologies sector. We are shaping our work according to the Century of Turkey vision to create efficient, sustainable, and accessible transport systems.”