A study released by the global management consulting firm Kearney estimates that multimodal digital mobility services (MDMS) can unlock a new pool of 500 million travellers and generate 30 billion euros in additional revenue for Europe’s intercity passenger transport market through 2030.

According to the study’s authors, a digital offer that seamlessly combines travel by air, rail, or coach for any given journey can provide as much as a 50% boost to the growth of intercity passenger traffic, raising the average annual growth rate from 2 percent to 3 percent. The report cites the improved customer experience—in terms of selection, price, and convenience—as the main reasons for increased passenger demand.

Moreover, the study concludes that digitally driven searches that span the full range of multimodal options can make intercity passenger travel more environmentally friendly, reducing CO₂ emissions per passenger-kilometre by 5 percent. This would occur not only because a digital (MDMS) platform would help passengers make better-informed choices by comparing the carbon emissions footprint of different travel options, but also because the improved selection and convenience of such a platform would lead many people to leave their private vehicles at home in favour of more sustainable travel options. Digital MDMS would further encourage travellers to opt for environmentally friendly rail rather than air on more on short- and medium-haul routes.

José Cantera, Kearney partner and coauthor of the study Digitally driven multimodality can supercharge sustainable growth of European passenger mobility, says, “A digital platform for multimodal travel searches would be a game-changer. If a passenger could get all the information in one place—schedules, availability, fares, carbon emissions—on all the ways to get from point A to point B, that would bring a whole new meaning to the concepts of selection and convenience. And if, on top of that, they could book their travel and pay for it on that very same platform, that would truly be revolutionary.”

Environmental benefits of digitally enabled multimodal travel multimodal digital mobility services

In addition to the economic and environmental benefits of digitally enabled multimodal travel, the Kearney report highlights that a transparent multimodal system will better connect the regions of Europe that do not currently host a major air hub, largely thanks to improved integration between air and high-speed rail. The effect would be similar to when passenger air travel was liberalised: new entrants swooped in on a slew of secondary airports, driving airfares down and offering direct, point-to-point flights that conveniently integrated many regions into international travel circuits for the very first time. Passenger demand surged as a result—Kearney’s research reveals that low-cost carrier investment in additional routes and capacity at tier-2 airports added on average 1.5 percentage points of growth to European air passenger traffic over each of the past 25 years. The impact on the economic and social development of the regions served by those airports has been notable. Ongoing passenger rail liberalisation will further magnify this trend, as the high-speed rail offer increases and prices come down.

Kearney’s report points out that, to build a fully functional digital infrastructure that can effectively orchestrate multimodal demand on behalf of passengers, MDMS operators will need access to transport providers’ content on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms. The study also cites the need for a European passenger rights framework that compensates travellers for the inability to arrive at their destination in a timely manner due to disruptions or delays on earlier segments of their journey, even when combining modes of transport.

According to report coauthor and Kearney partner Pablo Escutia, “Europe has the opportunity to build the world’s first truly multimodal, multinational system. A fully integrated system that gets travellers to their destination in the quickest, most convenient, and least expensive way possible, while minimising the impact on the environment, would be a solid basis to power a more decarbonised economy—one that is cleaner, more competitive, and more resilient.”

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