Integrating Automated Toll Discounts into a Real-time Ridesharing Program

95th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research BoardJanuary 13, 2016

Nick Wood, P.E.

Outline

• What is Dynamic Ridesharing?• Past Ridesharing Efforts• Description of Pilot in Austin, TX• Results• Key Takeaways

What is Dynamic Ridesharing?Carpools that can occur instantaneously, with no fixed schedule, enabling drivers and riders to share trips in real-time. Drivers are not encouraged to make trips for profit, but can be reimbursed for expenses.

Past Efforts• TDM programs challenged by requirements to record and

submit activity for rewards• SR 520 Pilot (2010-2011)– Smartphone app facilitated payments, security requirements

hampered recruitment• Santa Barbara, CA (2012)– 755 downloaded app, only 31 users took 2+ trips

• Northern VA, I-95/395/495 (2013)– Rapid changes in the app confused participants– 900 users completed 250 trips

• Most pilots required substantial recruitment

Austin, TX Pilot• Occurred during February – December 2014• Partnerships between CTRMA (toll operator) and Carma

(rideshare and app vendor)• Drivers and riders downloaded mobile app• Operated on two regional toll facilities, where all lanes

were tolled– HOV2 received 50% toll rebate, HOV3+ traveled toll-free– Toll varied from $0.51 - $1.86 per gantry– At most, trips crossed 4 gantries per facility

• Toll rebates shown directly on monthly TxTag statements

Population and Trafficof Toll Corridors

Mobile Application• App advertised rides, recorded trips,

and transmitted payments• Participants could either plug-in

schedules or search for active users• Drivers could offer either free or

reimbursed rides– Option of charging $0.20 per mile, up to

IRS limit• Step-by-step process

– Users select “plan” or “start” trip– Users select “driver” or “rider” mode– Users confirmed end of trip– E-mail sent confirming payment or deposit

Process to Match and Verify Toll Rebates

1. Vendor requests data, provides TxTag IDs

2. Toll operator matches IDs to txns in database

3. Operator provides vendor with transaction data

4. Vendor stores data5. Vendor matches their trip

data to operator’s txns using time of txn

6. Vendor provides report to operator to process rebates

Vendor Toll Operator

Monthly Results

*Figures for February are reflective of a 2/18/2014 start date

During 10.5-month pilot, 95 unique drivers took a total of 2,213 trips

Number of Trips per Driver

Drivers took a median of 7 trips, 254 trips were taken from a single driver

Trips by Rebate Amount

Toll Posted Number of Trips

Less than $0.50 81

$0.50–$0.99 1,226

$1.00–$1.49 611

$1.50–$1.99 174

$2.00–$2.49 85

$2.50–$2.99 31

Over $3.00 3

• 81% of trips from HOV2 (50% off)

• One trip had 8 people• Highest rebate was

$4.37 for single trip• Riders paid total of

$1,388.50 to drivers (not to toll operator)

• Vendor received 15% admin fee from rider payment

Longitudinal Trip Frequency• Did users just

download app, use it, and stop?

• Results are mixed

• Most joined early during pilot

• Infrequent trips common

• Median time was 162 days between first and last trip

Key Takeaways• Pilot extended during first six months of 2015 to most TxDOT-

operated toll facilities in Austin region– Only in-app credits provided, no posting on TxTag statements– Longer toll roads led to greater incentives– Total monthly trips increased, on average, by 50%

• Presence and availability of tech does not automatically lead to success– Legacy toll systems delay of up to 10 days for posting rebates– Users only saw rebates on monthly statements

• Fewer participants than anticipated– Small amount of incentive shown per trip may not have been enough– Fuel prices decreased from $3.12 to $2.07/gallon

Key Takeaways, cont…• Other research shown that structural changes in value of rebate

does not lead to behavior change• However, future research could show long-term benefits

– One driver received $300+ in toll rebates in 2014– Extended 2015 pilot had one driver with $500+ toll credits during first six

months– Pilot did not easily show longitudinal, or annual savings– Future app could show and track progress, similar to fitness programs

• Program coordinators need to consider on-going problems with toll transaction processing– TxDOT switched vendors during middle of 2014, caused many users to see

erroneous bills– Other states and agencies have had similar problems

For more information:

• This forthcoming TRR paper, in addition to the other TRB paper below, provide a good summary of the pilot

Paper 16-0596 “Recruiting Carpoolers: Dynamic Ridesharing with Incentives in Central Texas” Authored by G. Griffin, G. Stoeltje, N. Jones, N. Wood, and C. Simek

Integrating Automated Toll Discounts into a Real-time Ridesharing Program

Nick Wood, P.E.nickwood@tamu.edu