Multimodal Passenger transport

Have you heard about Multimodal Passenger transport? Going multimodal means travelling by different modes of transport (bus, rail, air, etc.) in your journey. Here’s why it’s grabbing consumer attention.

In addition to reducing transit times and taking advantage of cheaper transportation modes for certain legs of a journey, going multimodal reduces the overall environmental impact of traveling.

A primary initiative in making the consumer experience of multimodal travel more enjoyable lies in rendering the comparing and combining of journeys across different transport modes more transparent and accessible to consumers.

To this effect, the EU is promoting the development of Multimodal Digital Mobility Services (MDMS). These mobility platforms provide comparative information on schedules, fares and travel related emissions across different transport modes, thereby allowing consumers to compare and choose as they wish.

In order to further the development of these platforms and incentivize consumers to transition to multimodality, the EU is currently working on an MDMS Regulation that will not only make access to travel information mandatory on travel and transport operators, yet also determine their contractual obligations towards consumers.

It is important to note that this Regulation has yet to be adopted and that consumers should at present pay particular attention to contractual aspects of their multimodal journey including:

• Payment and Pricing -> verify payment methods and deadlines. Always make sure to clarify the total cost of service (additional fees, taxes, or surcharges)
• Cancellation and refund policies -> verify conditions of cancellation and/or modification of your arrangements. Take notice of deadlines, penalties, fees, and refund processes
• Itinerary information -> verify if it correctly reflects your choices before contracting
• Travel documentation -> verify the required documents for your multimodal journey (passports, visas, etc.).
• Insurance, liabilities, and dispute resolution -> verify if additional insurance is offered and what responsibilities the offeror acknowledges. Also verify if any dispute resolution procedure exists and how they work
• Data protection -> verify how your data is collected and used

Another main takeaway for consumers in the context of multimodal travel is  that in cases of travel disruptions, consumers bear various passenger rights based on the type of transport mode having encountered the disruption. For further information on these passenger rights, consult the relevant tabs under travel of our website.

For any other questions or requests of assistance related to multimodal travel, please contact us.