MaaS Alliance adds JR East as member

The MaaS Alliance, a public-private partnership aiming to roll out Mobility as a Service (MaaS), has welcomed Japanese railway company JR East as its newest member.

JR East's president Yuji Fukasawa says the company is developing a mobility linkage platform to help passengers collect information, purchase services and pay fares and shorten travel times.

Yuichiro Tokunaga, JR East’s director general in charge of MaaS, says the membership will allow the company to explore the potential of MaaS.

“We moreover hope to share our concepts of MaaS with the alliance members to suggest a Japanese MaaS framework other than those in European countries,” Tokunaga adds.

Additionally, the company has established a MaaS strategy and design department and has been planning related strategies since April 2019.