Aaron Gaul
UrbanTrans North America
Century City Transportation Management Organization
UrbanTrans North America, working in conjunction with the Century City Transportation Management Organization, is pioneering a novel new approach that appears poised to make major inroads in the world of transportation demand management. The organization is participating in a pilot project known as Transform, which is serving as a sort of “proof of concept” for the future of the TDM industry.
Century City is part of the greater Los Angeles area, which suffers some of the worst traffic congestion in the United States. Shifting the peak period commute in the L.A. area is a major way in which TDM-oriented organizations are trying to ease the problem.
Looking a few years down the road, it’s clear that the millennial generation is going to play a big part in how things shape up. By 2020, millennials will make up 50 percent of the American workforce, leading forward-looking organizations to build strategies that will incentivize behavior change for this tech-savvy segment of the population. Scoop, Lyft, RideAmigos, and the L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority have joined forces to launch an innovative program targeting smartphone users.
The Century City Transportation Management Organization is offering a subsidy of $2 for each and every Scoop ride sourced within the district’s boundaries. Lyft and Metro have also joined forces to make Metro’s ambitious Blue Line extension more accessible from Century City, by using single vehicles to shuttle multiple passengers to and from local transit stations.
RideAmigos’ commute tracking features have also made it possible to track and log smart commutes automatically, using “set it and forget it” technology. Century City is using this feature to collect rewards by logging at least 10 non-SOV trips per month. Reward options include:
These kinds of partnerships expand the reach of commuter incentive programs, using smartphone technology to give everyday travelers added bonuses for making smarter, more sustainable choices. The synergy they create encourages private-public cooperation while providing direct financial perks and benefits to end users, which is one of the best ways to encourage long-term behavior change.
Learn more about this and other RideAmigos projects at the ACT 2017 conference in New Orleans.