What is the MaaS Project Commons (COMmmmONS), promoted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to address transportation gaps?

<The current state of local transportation>

1. Prolonged decline in users
Japan's total population peaked in 2008 and has been declining ever since, and is expected to continue shrinking. Consequently, the number of users of local public transportation is also on a medium- to long-term downward trend. In addition, the use of local public transportation temporarily dropped sharply due to restrictions on going out caused by the spread of the new coronavirus, and has not yet fully recovered. Demand continues to decline across a wide range of transportation services, including route buses, taxis, and local railways, and this trend is particularly pronounced in rural areas. As a result, fare revenues have decreased, increasing the burden of continuing operations and maintaining routes.

2. Worsening driver shortage
In addition to a decline in passenger numbers, a shortage of drivers has become a structural problem. A future labor shortage is anticipated across the entire transportation sector, and the job-to-applicant ratio remains high. In addition, the workforce is aging, and securing younger workers is becoming increasingly difficult. As a result, there is a growing trend of service reductions and route closures due to staff shortages.

3. Shrinking transportation network and decline in services.
The decline in demand and labor shortages are manifesting themselves in the form of a decrease in service levels. In particular, in rural areas, the reduction and closure of bus routes are progressing, and people are losing their means of daily transportation. The reduction in transportation networks is restricting access to medical facilities, educational institutions, and General facility (shop), impacting the very foundation of local life.

<The need to fully utilize local transportation resources to eliminate transportation gaps>

By integrating transportation services that have traditionally been fragmented among individual operators, efficiently reallocating them, and fully utilizing regional transportation resources, it becomes possible to solve transportation challenges across the entire region.
Traditionally, route buses and community buses handled transportation to and from urban areas and train stations, school buses transported students to and from schools, and hospital shuttle buses transported people to medical facilities. Each vehicle and driver was limited to a specific purpose, making it difficult to utilize idle time or surplus resources for other purposes.

In response to this, the first improvement is the "integrated adjustment of supply and demand." The operational status of vehicles and drivers in each sector, such as school buses, hospital shuttles, and route buses, will be centrally managed, allowing idle time to be used for other transportation needs. This will enable the effective use of all local transportation resources, for example, by using school buses outside of commuting hours as a means of local transportation, or by using hospital shuttles for other purposes. These operations will be efficiently managed by the system, and the vehicles will function flexibly as a public ride-sharing service.
Furthermore, the "consolidation of supply and demand" will also lead to a reorganization of transportation modes themselves. By consolidating multiple transportation services into a single route bus, it will be possible to shift to a system where users with different purposes, such as commuting to work or school or going to the hospital, share (share) the same means of transportation. This will improve the efficiency of transportation and also lead to the maintenance and improvement of service frequency and convenience.
In this way, by integrating and optimizing transportation resources scattered throughout a region, it becomes possible to realize sustainable transportation services even with limited resources.

PDF: Current Status and Future Developments of Regional Public Transportation Policy - Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism

In addition to public transportation, there is also a new form of transportation called on-demand transport as a way to ensure travel options in rural areas.

On-demand transportation is a transportation service that can flexibly change routes and times according to user reservations.

Efforts to improve the convenience of public transportation began against the backdrop of the global attention given to "MaaS (Mobility as a Service)." In 2019, the Mobility Services Promotion Division was established within the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, creating a promotion system, and the "Japan MaaS Promotion and Support Project" was launched, with concrete financial support from the government beginning.
These initiatives have led to the steady spread of mobility services, expanding to over 100 MaaS services nationwide. New mobility services utilizing digital technology have become established to a certain extent in various regions, and are showing results in improving the convenience of public transportation.

On the other hand, as adoption progresses, new challenges are also becoming apparent. As multiple apps and services are developed independently, "siloing" has progressed, resulting in a lack of data and functionality integration, limiting the potential for improving convenience for users. Furthermore, the problem of areas lacking public transportation, known as "transportation gaps," still persists, raising concerns about the sustainability of local transportation itself.
Based on these achievements and challenges, starting in 2025, the phase is shifting to promoting "regional transportation DX," which aims to go beyond simply providing services and instead focus on utilizing data and strengthening the industrial structure.

Many of you may already be familiar with the term MaaS (Mobility as a Service), but let me briefly introduce it here. MaaS is a concept that integrates multiple modes of transportation and provides them as a single service. Its key feature is that route searches, reservations, and payments can all be done in one place using a smartphone, enabling seamless travel that includes not only public transport but also taxis and shared mobility services. Formore detailed information about MaaS, please check here.

Up until now, mobility services utilizing digital technologies, such as MaaS apps and ride-hailing apps, have become widespread to a certain extent. On the other hand, as a result of systems and operations being built individually and optimally for each operator and region, the integration of services and data has not progressed, leading to so-called silos, which have hindered improvements in service quality, operational efficiency, and even data-driven policymaking.

In light of these challenges, the "COMmmmONS" project has been launched to promote the digital transformation of regional transportation, focusing on breaking down silos and fostering collaboration and cooperation. This project spans four areas: services, data, management (policy), and business processes, and comprehensively promotes the creation of best practices and standardization to ensure interoperability. Furthermore, by deploying standard specifications and technical specifications as a common asset for society as a whole, the project aims to realize sustainable and convenient regional transportation.

Regional transportation in Japan is structured in such a way that major railway operators and numerous small and medium-sized secondary transportation operators each provide services and operations independently within the same area. This structure leads to "siloing" (a state where each entity is isolated and information and systems are not coordinated), where services and data are fragmented among operators, posing a challenge to achieving sustainable transportation through collaboration and cooperation. Let's look at the four silos that COMmmmONS aims to break down and the challenges they face.

① Service silos

Within a region, diverse modes of transportation and services from various operators are offered individually, and MaaS (Mobility as a Service) is also limited to individual operators. As a result, while the options for transportation have increased, the user experience has become fragmented, and convenience has decreased.

② Data silos

Because data is managed independently by each transportation operator and standardization has not progressed, it is difficult to utilize the data across the entire region. Furthermore, many operations are still paper-based, and it is not possible to comprehensively grasp travel demand.

③ Management silos

The policy methods and evaluation indicators necessary for redesigning regional transportation have not been systematized or shared, resulting in fragmented responses from local governments. As a result, initiatives remain individually optimized and have not been accumulated as generalizable know-how.

④ Business process silos

Due to an industrial structure dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises, operations and systems are individually optimized, making collaboration and cooperation difficult. In addition, limitations in investment capacity and high barriers to entry hinder the advancement of business sophistication and service innovation.

In particular, data silos are often held by individual businesses, and information about movement across multiple businesses and
It is difficult to obtain continuous data collected from multiple modes of transportation, such as buses, trains, and cars.
GeoTechnologies, Inc. possesses people flow people flow data that is independent of any specific service provider. This data can be analyzed by four different modes of transportation: rail, bus, car, and walking/cycling. If you are interested in learning more about people flow data, please contact us here.

COMmmmONS is a project aimed at breaking down silos in local transportation and realizing MaaS (Mobility as a Service) across entire regions. It promotes the integrated use of digital technology from four perspectives: "services," "data," "management," and "business processes," thereby linking fragmented systems and information. This enhances the sustainability, convenience, and productivity of local transportation, and comprehensively redesigns local transportation, including eliminating "transportation gaps."

Let's look at what will be implemented through COMmmmONS, focusing on four areas of local transportation redesign.

① Centralized elimination of transportation gaps (joint operation of local transportation)

By having multiple municipalities and transportation operators collaborate and jointly utilize transportation resources such as drivers and vehicles, we will enhance the sustainability of regional transportation. We will provide integrated support from surveys and consensus building to vehicle introduction, system development, and operating costs, and encourage the creation of joint operation models. At the same time, we will promote the demonstration of public-private partnership platforms, strengthen collaborative systems centered on municipalities, and develop human resources. Furthermore, we will realize efficient operations and inter-sector collaboration by utilizing mobility data and introducing digital technologies. We will combine support for plan formulation and updating, business plan development, and government investment and loans to quickly resolve transportation gaps, including the introduction of on-demand transportation and public ride-sharing.

② Securing means of transportation for inbound tourism

In anticipation of an increase in foreign tourists visiting Japan, we will enhance secondary transportation in tourist areas. We will diversify transportation options by utilizing public transport and Japanese-style ride-sharing services, and improve accessibility by developing boarding areas and waiting facilities. In addition, we will improve the environment for receiving tourists by providing multilingual support, promoting cashless payments, and introducing vehicles specifically for tourism, thereby building a transportation infrastructure that makes it easy to travel around.

③ Promotion of autonomous driving (advanced and improved productivity of local transportation)

We will provide focused support for the commercialization of autonomous driving, promoting labor savings and efficiency in regional transportation. Simultaneously, we will advance system standardization and cashless payment through the promotion of regional transportation DX, thereby achieving advanced operational management and user experiences. We will support the introduction of advanced technologies such as EVs and autonomous vehicles, and promote research, demonstrations, and facility development toward the reconstruction of local railway and bus networks, aiming for a sustainable transportation system.

④ Maintaining and securing local public transportation

We will strive to maintain and secure local public transportation as a foundation supporting the lives of residents. We will support the operating costs of island ferry routes, air routes, and trunk and local feeder routes to ensure the continuity of transportation options. We will also promote the introduction of barrier-free vehicles and facility improvements to create an environment that is easily accessible to everyone. In addition, we will address safety improvements through measures such as safety measures for local railways and the relocation of dangerous bus stops.

Balancing the provision of transportation for inbound tourists with the convenience of travel for local residents is not easy. For example, in the ancient city of Kyoto, the use of buses by tourists with large suitcases causes congestion, impacting the daily commutes of residents. GeoTechnologies, Inc. has published an analysis report on the differences in behavior between Japanese and foreign tourists visiting Kyoto, using people flow data. If you are interested in the analysis report on the behavior of Japanese and foreign tourists in Kyoto, please see this article.

Here are some examples of actual Commons (COMmmmONS) projects.

MaaS App Standardization Promotion Project: Improving Service Quality

We are improving the quality of mobility services that address regional transportation challenges, such as collaboration with other sectors and stimulating travel demand. We are also standardizing the technical specifications of ticket authentication and sales systems for railways, buses, and on-demand buses, and enabling connection to various services through a single app, thereby improving the convenience of services.

Mobility Data Standardization Project: Building a Data Acquisition Environment

We are developing an environment that enables the acquisition of fragmented regional transportation data in a standardized, comprehensive, and cross-sectional manner. By standardizing the specifications for usage data and operational information data, we are reducing the cost and improving the convenience of data utilization in local areas.

Advanced Data Analysis Solutions Project: Data-Driven Regional Transportation Policy

We are developing data analysis technologies and creating mechanisms to facilitate route reorganization, as well as developing simulation technologies to predict changes in service levels and revenue/expense ratios resulting from regional transportation reorganization, thereby achieving optimization and improved sustainability of regional transportation.

Bus operations standardization project: Improving business productivity

By standardizing business models and unifying system interfaces, and by collaborating with the industry to standardize the bus business processes, we are improving data utilization and operational efficiency, thereby achieving overall business productivity improvements.
Reference: Regional Transportation DX Promotion Project COMmmONS | Project Introduction P7

By breaking down data silos in the Commons, quantitative data analysis becomes possible.
Improving business productivity requires qualitative information about users that cannot be gleaned from quantitative data alone.
While it's possible to conduct surveys targeting people who use specific local transportation by directly interviewing passengers or by performing a screening survey beforehand to determine if they've used the target transportation, this method is extremely time-consuming, costly, and labor-intensive.
By utilizing GeoTechnologies, Inc. 'Geo-Research, it is possible to extract data on people who used specific modes of transportation and conduct surveys.
If you are interested in collecting qualitative feedback from transportation users through surveys, please contact us here.