Estonia is about to create a single travel planning and ticketing platform to make travelling in Estonia easier.
“At present, passengers don’t have a convenient, unified system for planning their journeys using public transport and alternative modes. This is one of the reasons why people prefer to travel by car, because it is now easier,” Johann Peetre, head of mobility planning at the Estonian Transport Administration, said.
To address this issue, the government is supporting the creation of a prototype that will allow the private sector to create a functional environment where different transport service providers can conveniently sell their services.
The MaaS X-Road project aims to create a prototype service platform for journey enquiries and ticket purchases. This will create a standardised X-Road data exchange layer that can be used by MaaS operators in the private market. A good example of this is the Helsinki Public Transport System platform, which allows passengers to plan their journey and purchase all necessary tickets instantly.
The current interfaces not compatible
There is an urgent need for such a system, as different modes of transport currently have their own booking and ticketing channels with incompatible application programming interfaces.
MaaS X-road is an intermediate layer with secure data exchange that will connect all public transport and mobility service providers, enabling the emergence of a new type of service on the market, where the services needed for the whole journey can be found in one place and boarding rights can be purchased in one transaction.
The prototype will be developed in modules, with the performance of each module being tested with stakeholders to ensure its suitability. If necessary, the solution is adjusted before the next module is developed.
Funded by the government’s innovation fund, the project will last 18 months and cost €840,000. The project involves the the Transport Administration, the climate ministry and the agriculture ministry.
