Young Scots aim to build '˜revolutionary' transport app

A consortium of industry experts is working with a team of young Scots to create a service to 'revolutionise transport' in Scotland.

The new app aims to make it easier for young people to access concession fares or discounts when travelling. Picture: Danny Lawson/PA Wire

Their aim is to co-design one of Scotland’s first Mobility as a Service (MaaS) applications, which will provide accurate information on concession fares and discounts available to students and those under-18.

MaaS is a new model for mobility and transport delivery aiming to transform existing disjointed transport networks to a service based on needs instead of ownership.

MaaS allows users to access a ‘package’ of services across different modes of transport, similar to how mobile phone users can access a bundle of messages, phone calls and data.

Led by the Young Scot organisation, the Pick&Mix project aims to bring together all the available transport options in the user’s locality – everything from trams, buses and trains to car and bike share schemes – alongside concessions and discounts to provide one single, optimised transport network.

The project, which will be trialled in 2017, will look at offering young people personalised information, offers, rewards and tailored recommendations to enhance their travel options.

Louise Macdonald, chief executive of Young Scot, said: “Transport innovation is key to tackling inequality in Scotland and the National Youth Team are at the epicentre of an exciting new project to improve transport for all.

“By co-designing the service with young people, for young people, Pick&Mix will create solutions to meet the transport needs of tomorrow and help more young people access more opportunities.”

The consortium includes experts from ESP Group, JMP SYSTRA Consultants, Young Scot, Mudlark, Route Monkey Ltd and the Scottish National Entitlement Card Programme Office.

The project has secured funding to develop the new service from the ‘Enhancing End-to-End Journeys’ competition run by Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency.