Development of an individualized multimodal trip planner for a MaaS system

The increasing demand for sustainable transportation solutions necessitates advanced multimodal trip planning systems that can accommodate diverse travel needs and preferences. This paper presents an innovative approach to the development of an individualized, multimodal trip planner for the city of Thessaloniki, Greece. The proposed system integrates public buses alongside shared mobility options (e.g., bike-sharing) and walking, offering users a variety of transportation modes and combinations. A distinctive feature of this work is the inclusion of personalization, which tailors trip recommendations based on user-specific preferences. These preferences are captured through the historic trips of the users, with various shared modes. By incorporating user preferences into the trip planning process, the system prioritizes alternatives using a generalized cost function that balances travel cost, duration, and the number of mode changes. This individualized approach enhances user satisfaction and promotes the adoption of multimodal transportation solutions. The results of this research are relevant for both academic communities exploring advanced routing algorithms and practitioners in the field of Mobility as a Service (MaaS), who aim to deliver efficient and user-centered mobility services.