The service

MaaS×

Modularity as a Service©

Variable capacity and passenger transfer without getting off:
This is how modularity changes the paradigm of mobility. A network of collaborative vehicles creating modular mobility as a service, a true | Internet of Mobility.

Two docked NExT pods in Milan: passengers sit in the first module, one person walks into the second

In-motion transfer
| The connection made in motion, no getting off, no waiting, no stress.

Capacity follows demand

Peak hours: one 18 m e-bus = five coupled pods. Low demand: one pod in service | the others charge or do car-sharing. Up to −80% traffic and −60% CO₂ per passenger, certified by Solar Impulse Efficient Solution.

E-BUSNEXTDEMANDOTHER ROUTES · CHARGING7 AM10 AM1 PM5 PM8 PM11 PM

Real footage

Docking at speed on a public road, moving between modules, undocking at full speed. Alignment and docking are already automated (L2). L4 autonomous driving is under development, available on request in dedicated areas.

Padova

The geometry

Solving the first- and last-mile problem by exploiting the star geometry of the city. Multiple vehicles pick up people on demand in the outskirts and the province, where public transport is scarce. Along the main arteries they join up and group the passengers heading downtown. The few full pods reach the center without adding traffic, while those now empty are free to collect new passengers out in the province. Everything happens symmetrically on the way back, in the evening.
It is the principle of the paper that opened the field | Gecchelin & Webb, 2018.

TRADITIONAL RIDE-SHARINGone vehicle, everyone rides everyone's detourMODULAR CONVOYtogether on the shared trunk, then everyone straight home

Same demand, two geometries: in series vs in parallel

Parallel pooling

You board with different destinations; at the exchange each one moves, without getting off, into the module going their way.
No fixed hubs required.

PICK-UPEXCHANGE NODEDROP-OFFPassengers regroup bydestination throughthe intervehicular doors

Different destinations at the start → transfer between modules → convoys optimized by destination

The fleet control room

The NExT software simulates and governs the fleet in real time: demand distribution and peaks, couplings, passenger transfers, charging, driver shifts, predictive maintenance.
The fleet can be planned and managed in natural language.
| e.g. "send all pods to charge for the next peak"
| e.g. "there's a concert at Wembley Stadium, reorganize the fleet around the forecast peaks"
| e.g. "it's a rainy Sunday before Christmas, create a line to ease the traffic toward IKEA"
It's part of the NExT software suite.

NExT MaaS Platform · built in-house

Compared

NExT · modular podsClassic electric busClassic DRT / pooling
CapacityFollows demand, 1 to 5 podsFixedFixed (van)
Off-peakOnly the pods needed, the rest chargeRuns half-emptyVan runs half-empty
Passenger transferBetween coupled modules, no getting offNoneTransfer at a fixed hub
DetoursNo shared detours, opens into a starFixed routeShared detours
Empty seatsUp to −84.9% (Tongji)High off-peakHigh at low demand
DriverWith driver today, L4 in developmentWith driverWith driver

At equal demand

The numbers of research

−52%
vehicle travel costs vs on-demand services
New York University
−35%
passenger travel cost, network without transfers
NYU Abu Dhabi
−84.9%
empty seats with capacity that follows demand
Tongji University
−44%
fleet total cost of ownership (Singapore case)
NTU Singapore

Over 80 peer-reviewed studies, none commissioned by us: sources and quotes on the Research page.

Common questions

How does capacity follow demand through the day?
At peak hours, up to five NExT pods can couple into a single convoy, with the capacity of an 18 m articulated bus. Off-peak, fewer pods stay in service, down to a single pod in the quietest hours. The other pods recharge, cover other lines or secondary services. The fleet adapts to the demand curve instead of running fixed vehicles half-empty.
Do the pods really couple and decouple in motion?
Yes. Real footage on a public road in Padova shows the NExT pods coupling at speed, passengers moving between modules, and the pods decoupling again. Today coupling is handled autonomously with human supervision; apart from the coupling phases, L4 autonomous driving is under development and can be integrated on request in dedicated areas.
What are the inter-vehicle transfer and the dynamic exchange point?
Passengers can change module through the inter-vehicle doors without getting off. The point where the modules reorganize is not a fixed hub: the NExT MaaS Platform picks it dynamically from real-time demand.
How much can modular pooling reduce empty seats?
Up to −84.9% empty-seat mileage in a peer-reviewed study by Tongji University, and up to −52% vehicle travel cost in Fu & Chow (2023, Transportation Research Part C). These are maximum figures; the full index is on the Research page.
Is one electric bus really equal to five pods?
In capacity, yes: five coupled NExT pods carry as much as an 18 m articulated bus. The difference is that the five pods can split apart and serve five directions, while the bus runs one fixed line, whether it is full or empty. Three M2 Class A modules equal a 12 m bus.

To go deeper into MaaS and our fleet management software, and to see the pods in person:

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