*4.1. Scenarios and Survey*

A survey aimed at a pilot sample of users was designed and carried out. The survey form had 22 questions grouped into three sections:

	- a. Scenarios 1 and 2 were (extra-urban) long distances (from the Gioia Tauro area to the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria and vice versa):
		- i. Scenario 1 considered trips between the Gioia Tauro area and the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria in extra-urban areas.
		- ii. Scenario 2 was the same as scenario 1, considering also that, in the present configuration, users pay a monthly subscription for parking a car. This was asked to understand if a user would prefer to pay for parking rather than buying a MaaS package, as in the previous case.
	- b. Scenario 3 (suburban) was a short distance (inside the Gioia Tauro area) considering trips within the Gioia Tauro area in suburban areas.


**Table 2.** Services considered in the bundling of subscenario B.

Each scenario (1, 2, and 3) included three subscenarios (A, B, and C) with different services at different costs. Subscenario B considered a 33% reduction in cost (EUR/month) compared to the fare for individual services. Table 1 shows the services considered for subscenario B. The cost (EUR/month) and the frequency of subscenarios A and C compared to subscenario B were assumed as follows:


The pilot sample included 21 users living in the study area. The sample size was within the range expected for this type of pre-test and pilot study. Small samples (between 10 and 30) in pilot and exploratory studies have the advantages of economy, simplicity, and easy calculation [32]. In [33], some considerations regarding the confidence intervals evaluated by pilot studies were reported; a sample size of 10–40 individuals per group can be used for a variety of objectives.

The survey was carried out for the sample group by experts in the transport area and MaaS. The experts showed the users the scenarios and their bundles. The questionnaire was not disseminated through a computer system with an automatic procedure, obtaining a large sample. The presence of an expert during the interview made it possible to clarify some questions posed by the interviewees on the subject and allowed us to obtain more reliable responses. Users spent at least 30 min of their time listening to an explanation of MaaS and were able to ask the experts for clarification.

For compatibly within the small size of the sample, the users interviewed were adults with an average age similar to that of the entire population. Furthermore, in order to obtain the majority of users from the extra-urban area of Gioia Tauro, approximately 71% had a systematic origin of trips in the area of Gioia Tauro, and the others had systematic origins in the remaining area of the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria.

The answers were treated anonymously. For this reason, for example, age was not asked but the users were simply asked to place themselves within one of the established age groups. In addition, the origins and destinations of journeys were asked in terms of zone. Users were asked to answer regarding their most frequent journey for the presented configurations of the three what-if MaaS scenarios (1, 2, and 3) and sub-scenarios (A, B, and C). For each scenario (1, 2, and 3), users were asked whether or not they were willing to buy options A, B, and C (yes or no for each subscenario).

To support the model specification, calibration, and validation phase, a statistical analysis of the results deriving from the survey was carried out. In relation to the reason for the usual journey, 24% made their usual journey for "Study" and 33% for "Work". In relation to mode, 76% used a private car.

Considering a one-way trip and the survey data, in scenarios 1 and 2 (extra-urban) the average travel time was 80 min and the average distance travelled was 60 km; in scenario 3, the average travel time was 30 min, and the average travel distance was 30 km.

#### *4.2. Specification*

In each scenario, each user expressed one preference for each subscenario (A, B, or C), and for each subscenario, a binomial Logit preference model was specified. The expected utility value associated with each subscenario preference had the following specification:

$$V\_{si}/\theta = \beta\_{\text{bundle\\_cost}} \bullet \text{bundle\\_cost} + \beta\_{\text{age}} \bullet \text{age} + \beta\_{\text{scenario}} \bullet \text{scenario} + \beta\_{\text{constant}}\tag{9}$$

$$V\_{no}/\theta = \beta\_{\text{time}} \bullet \text{time}$$

where

