Do Security and Privacy Attitudes and Concerns Affect Travellers’ Willingness to Use Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) Systems?

Maria Sophia Heering, Haiyue Yuan, Shujun Li

Abstract: Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) represents a transformative shift in transportation, enabling users to plan, book, and pay for diverse mobility services via a unified digital platform. While previous research has explored factors influencing MaaS adoption, few studies have addressed users’ perspectives, particularly concerning data privacy and cyber security. To address this gap, we conducted an online survey with 320 UK-based participants recruited via Prolific. This study examined psychological, demographic, and perceptual factors influencing individuals’ willingness to adopt MaaS, focusing on cyber security and privacy attitudes, as well as perceived benefits and costs. The results of a hierarchical linear regression model revealed that trust in how commercial websites manage personal data positively influenced willingness to use MaaS, highlighting the indirect role of privacy and security concerns. However, when additional predictors were included, this effect diminished, and perceptions of benefits and costs emerged as the primary drivers of MaaS adoption, with the model explaining 54.5% of variance. These findings suggest that privacy concerns are outweighed by users’ cost–benefit evaluations. The minimal role of trust and security concerns underscores the need for MaaS providers to proactively promote cyber security awareness, build user trust, and collaborate with researchers and policymakers to ensure ethical and secure MaaS deployment.

External IDs:doi:10.3390/info16080694