The second round of funding for the MaaS Investment Fund (MIF) has now been awarded, with just under £1m secured by two major pilot projects.

The pilot projects aim to support Scotland’s green recovery, seeking to make public transport easier to use and encourage people away from single-occupancy car trips by providing digital access to travel information, so they can be better informed about different ways to plan, undertake and pay for journeys.

Transport Scotland announced the selection of two pilots out of 15 bids to support:

  • University of St Andrews St Andrews MaaSterplan, for a pilot to promote community-centred mobility services that will tackle issues such as congestion and achieving the transition to net zero, promoting sustainable, active and shared transport options.
  • HITRANS, for an extension to their current GO-HIpilot to include additional transport modes, a rewards programme, smart card integration and a demand responsive transport solution for rural and island regions.

Minister for Transport, Graeme Dey said:

“We want to help Scotland to become an international leader in Smart Mobility. These awards from the second, and final, year of the Mobility as a Service Investment Fund are an important step towards unlocking this potential for innovation.

“MaaS has the potential to transform the way we use transport by making public and shared transport options as desirable as using our car. These awards will help grow the evidence base for MaaS by developing and testing digital solutions that encourage and enable a shift to public and active transport alternatives. All of which can make a significant contribution to a healthier and more sustainable Scotland.

“I look forward to seeing how these projects develop over the coming months.”

Alastair McInroy, CEO of Technology Scotland said:

“Scotland has positioned itself as a global lead in Mobility as a Service and the announcement of the successful Round 2 projects has further strengthened our MaaS Investment programme. MaaS will play an important role in Scotland’s ambitions for a green, post-COVID recovery and we look forward to supporting all projects as they progress over the coming months and years.”

Geoff Morris, Director of the University of St Andrews Eden Campus said:

“For the University of St Andrews, this funding will be invaluable in helping us to meet our ambitious targets to become carbon net-zero by 2035. As a relatively isolated university, it is important that we improve transport and travel connections in a sustainable way.

“This includes the connections to our new Eden Campus site, which is a showcase for low-carbon innovation, and which will benefit from improved connectivity to the town of St Andrews and to major transport hubs such as Leuchars station. We are looking forward to working with other stakeholders on this exciting project.”

Ranald Robertson, Partnership Director for HITRANS said:

“I’m delighted that HITRANS now have the opportunity to build on the GO-HI MaaS app which was developed with support from round 1 of MaaS Investment Fund and launched in June 2021.

“The new funding will allow the introduction of a rewards and incentivisation programme to encourage sustainable travel by users of GO-HI. New travel modes will be added to GO-HI’s coverage including extending the availability of demand responsive transport booked through the app and introducing new electric car club vehicles to make this option available to more people across the Highlands.  Another new development planned is the ability to top up travel smart cards using the app.”

Find out more about the MaaS Investment Fund.