VPP Projects Not Involving Tolls
Category: Projects that Make Auto Use Costs Variable

Project - FLORIDA: Dynamically Priced Carsharing in Tampa

Carsharing encourages participants to reduce car ownership and save on related fixed costs in exchange for accepting relatively high per-use carsharing costs, which in turn encourages less driving. Carsharing is a growing phenomenon in university settings, with 20 new programs started within the last two years, and a total of 40 universities offering car sharing in partnership with Zipcar, a carsharing company. This project will test "congestion pricing" for carsharing vehicle usage, with differential pricing based upon both time-of-day/day of week and vehicle demand. Such pricing will be coupled with ridesharing promotions and incentives at the university, providing users more options besides driving a carsharing vehicle alone (e.g., finding a ride from someone who owns their own vehicle, sharing a carsharing vehicle, etc.) when congestion pricing for carsharing begins.

Research related to the project will be conducted by the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) at the University of South Florida (USF). The project will utilize TRAC-IT, an innovative tool recently developed by CUTR. TRAC-IT uses global positioning system (GPS) based cell phone technology to track participant time of travel, route, speed, mode, vehicle occupancy, and trip purpose (by prompting the user in real time). Assuming the cooperation of others (e.g., 511), it also may enable other information to be sent to users, such as on traffic conditions, proximity to transit vehicles, and prices for the carsharing use. This will be the first test of combining congestion pricing with carsharing. It will encourage travel shifts away from peak periods while increasing overall utilization of car-sharing.

Feasibility Funds Awarded

2007

Anticipated Completion Date

2010

April - June 2010 Update

Twelve human subjects were recruited and carried the TRAC-IT devices for two consecutive periods of two weeks. Human subjects were required to be current WeCar members and to remain living or working in the University area while carrying the TRAC-IT devices. Human subject research included recruitment, orientation, informed consent (IRB), and monitoring and communication during the test period. Human subjects were compensated with bank gift cards for their participation. The research team worked to test a mode of transportation classification algorithm that has been implemented using artificial neural networks. Since the team is testing a passive version of TRAC-IT, participants do not manually indicate their mode of transportation for each trip. Therefore, the research team must have a way to automatically classify a trip's mode of transportation from GPS data alone.

The number of WeCar participants increased to 90 during this period with a cumulative of 460 trips taken with a majority (85%) of the trips occurring outside weekday morning (7 am - 9 am) and evening periods. WeCar representatives are attending new student orientation sessions during the summer and have a new marketing plan for the fall semester. Monthly membership reports were received from WeCar. Analysis of the data show that the number of WeCar members is growing at a steady pace. Collectively, members have rented the vehicles 460 times and revenue received to date of $12,090. The average rental period is 4 hours 48 minutes. The vast majority of rentals are by the hour (versus daily and nightly). The team requested a project extension through September 18, 2011.

For More Information Contact

Phil Winters
CUTR
Phone: (813) 974-9811
E-mail: winters@cutr.usf.edu

Back to Projects that Make Auto Use Costs Variable

Search Tolling and Pricing: Home About Tolling and Pricing Programs Value Pricing Pilot Program Express Lanes Demonstration Program HOV Facilities Interstate System Reconstruction & Rehabilitation Pilot Program Interstate System Construction Toll Pilot Program Title 23 United States Code Section 129 Toll Agreements Team Webinar Series Resources Expression of Interest Regulations/Policy FAQs	Home > VPP Program > Projects > Not Involving Tolls > Projects that Make Auto Use Costs Variable VPP Projects Not Involving Tolls Category: Projects that Make Auto Use Costs Variable Project - FLORIDA: Dynamically Priced Carsharing in Tampa Carsharing encourages participants to reduce car ownership and save on related fixed costs in exchange for accepting relatively high per-use carsharing costs, which in turn encourages less driving. Carsharing is a growing phenomenon in university settings, with 20 new programs started within the last two years, and a total of 40 universities offering car sharing in partnership with Zipcar, a carsharing company. This project will test "congestion pricing" for carsharing vehicle usage, with differential pricing based upon both time-of-day/day of week and vehicle demand. Such pricing will be coupled with ridesharing promotions and incentives at the university, providing users more options besides driving a carsharing vehicle alone (e.g., finding a ride from someone who owns their own vehicle, sharing a carsharing vehicle, etc.) when congestion pricing for carsharing begins. Research related to the project will be conducted by the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) at the University of South Florida (USF). The project will utilize TRAC-IT, an innovative tool recently developed by CUTR. TRAC-IT uses global positioning system (GPS) based cell phone technology to track participant time of travel, route, speed, mode, vehicle occupancy, and trip purpose (by prompting the user in real time). Assuming the cooperation of others (e.g., 511), it also may enable other information to be sent to users, such as on traffic conditions, proximity to transit vehicles, and prices for the carsharing use. This will be the first test of combining congestion pricing with carsharing. It will encourage travel shifts away from peak periods while increasing overall utilization of car-sharing. Feasibility Funds Awarded 2007 Anticipated Completion Date 2010 April - June 2010 Update Twelve human subjects were recruited and carried the TRAC-IT devices for two consecutive periods of two weeks. Human subjects were required to be current WeCar members and to remain living or working in the University area while carrying the TRAC-IT devices. Human subject research included recruitment, orientation, informed consent (IRB), and monitoring and communication during the test period. Human subjects were compensated with bank gift cards for their participation. The research team worked to test a mode of transportation classification algorithm that has been implemented using artificial neural networks. Since the team is testing a passive version of TRAC-IT, participants do not manually indicate their mode of transportation for each trip. Therefore, the research team must have a way to automatically classify a trip's mode of transportation from GPS data alone. The number of WeCar participants increased to 90 during this period with a cumulative of 460 trips taken with a majority (85%) of the trips occurring outside weekday morning (7 am - 9 am) and evening periods. WeCar representatives are attending new student orientation sessions during the summer and have a new marketing plan for the fall semester. Monthly membership reports were received from WeCar. Analysis of the data show that the number of WeCar members is growing at a steady pace. Collectively, members have rented the vehicles 460 times and revenue received to date of $12,090. The average rental period is 4 hours 48 minutes. The vast majority of rentals are by the hour (versus daily and nightly). The team requested a project extension through September 18, 2011. For More Information Contact Phil Winters CUTR Phone: (813) 974-9811 E-mail: winters@cutr.usf.edu Back to Projects that Make Auto Use Costs Variable
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