Tokyu Corporation, JR East Japan Railway and JR East Marketing & Communications recently revealed the interim results of the first Tourism MaaS demonstration phase (April to June 2019) in Izu area. The demonstration allows a traveler to experience seamless secondary transportations, including railways, scheduled buses, AI-controlled on-demand bus or even rent-a-bike, from search to booking and payment on an exclusive app.
The demonstration’s purpose is to encourage travelers to tour Izu area with public transportations, not with their own cars. The second phase will be performed in the period between September and November 2019.
In the first phase, the number of downloads of the exclusive app ‘Izuko’ reached 23,231 for the three months, which were more than the initial target of 20,000.
In reverse, they sold only 1,054 digital free passes, with which travelers enjoy all-you-can-ride of railways and buses in a limited area, much fewer passes than the initial target of 10,000.
Users of the new AI-controlled on-demand bus in Shimoda area were 1,051 in the first phase period, 13 a day on average.
