This presentation was given at the 95th Annual Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting, January 2016.

1. Integrating Automated Toll Discounts into a
Real-time Ridesharing Program
95th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board
January 13, 2016
Nick Wood, P.E.

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

3. 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.

4. 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

5. 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

6. Population and Traffic
of Toll Corridors

7. 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

8. 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 data
5. 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

9. 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

10. Number of Trips per Driver
Drivers took a median of 7 trips, 254 trips were taken from a single driver

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. Integrating Automated Toll Discounts into a
Real-time Ridesharing Program
Nick Wood, P.E.
nickwood@tamu.edu