Abstract
The accelerating convergence of digital infrastructure and mobility systems has fundamentally redefined how transportation services are designed, operated, and evaluated. Over the last decade, parallel advancements in cloud computing paradigms, serverless architectures, edge and fog computing, and demand-responsive transportation have created a fertile ground for new operational models that transcend traditional fleet ownership and static routing logics. Within this evolving landscape, Fleet-as-a-Service (FaaS) has emerged as a transformative concept that reframes fleets not as fixed capital assets but as dynamically orchestrated, service-oriented resources capable of supporting sustainable vehicle testing, adaptive operations, and data-driven optimization across heterogeneous mobility contexts. This research develops a comprehensive, publication-ready theoretical and methodological examination of FaaS as a unifying socio-technical framework that integrates serverless and microservice-based computing with demand-responsive and hybrid transit systems. Drawing exclusively on the provided scholarly references, the article situates FaaS within the historical evolution of cloud and edge computing, the maturation of microservices and function-as-a-service models, and the long-standing transportation research on flexible routing, first-and-last-mile connectivity, and shared autonomous fleets. Particular emphasis is placed on the role of FaaS in enabling sustainable vehicle testing and operations, as articulated by Deshpande (2024), while extending this perspective through a critical synthesis of computational scalability, economic restructuring, and socio-spatial equity considerations. The methodology adopts a qualitative, integrative research design grounded in conceptual analysis, comparative literature interpretation, and systems-level reasoning rather than empirical measurement. Results are presented as interpretive findings that reveal how FaaS reshapes cost structures, operational resilience, and environmental performance in mobility systems when combined with serverless edge platforms and demand-responsive transit logic. The discussion advances a deep theoretical debate on architectural trade-offs, governance challenges, and future research directions, arguing that FaaS represents not merely a technical innovation but a paradigmatic shift in how mobility ecosystems are governed, evaluated, and sustained. The article contributes a unified analytical framework for scholars and practitioners seeking to understand the long-term implications of digitally mediated fleet services in the transition toward sustainable, adaptive, and inclusive transportation systems.