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Development of the "environmental trip" application

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Development of the "environmental trip" application

A similar existing application is called “Commute Greener”. The app, developed by Volvo, provides commuter with suggestions to make once daily commute as “greener” as possible, in terms of using the most efficient path or preferring ride-sharing options for example. Rewards are foreseen for the "greenest” users. “Green Travel Choice” is an application which works similarly to the aforementioned one, but focuses on international tourism. Another application of this kind is the “greenMeter”, an energy consumption tracker, aiming at persuading the driver to switch to a more eco way of driving. For instance, the app informs the driver when he/she accelerates aggressively. A more holistic approach to motivating people to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle (an aspect of which is the more sustainable way of commuting) is offered by the “Joulebug” application, which not only involves rewarding, but also gives its users the opportunity to “compete” with other people in their neighborhood who also use the application.

Thorpe, J.R. (2016), “13 Green Apps for Environmentalists who want to track their carbon footprint”, Bustle, [Online] Available from: https://www.bustle.com/articles/91945-13-green-apps-for-environmentalists-who-want-to-track-their-carbon-footprint

Vaughan, A. (2010), “Top 10 green iPhone apps”, Ethical and green living, Green living blog, The Guardian, [Online] Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/green-living-blog/2010/feb/17/top-10-green-iphone-apps

The application should be designed in a way that would be user – friendly and capable of catching users’ eye. The strength of this application, which is the combination of many different ways of contributing to environmental protection by choosing public transport, should be made clear, due to the fact that there are already similar applications in the market, hence the reason why this one is innovative should be made known to the potential users from the beginning.

The implementation of the innovation (in this case, the launching of the app) could be accompanied by a “promotion period’ by the PTA or PTO, in order to boost its use, at least during the first critical period of time, until it becomes popular. A way to promote the app is for example through smart messages that could appear on VMS screens at stops/stations as well as within the vehicle (bus/metro).

The “environmental trip” is an application, the objective of which is to help travellers enjoying their trip, while at the same time caring about the protection of the environment, through multiple ways.

First of all, the “environmental trip” application involves a similar rewarding system as the one currently offered by the airline companies; “the more you travel, the more you win”, as a way to motivate people to leave their car behind and chose Public Transport instead. The application could also count the CO2 emissions, inform the users about their personal CO2 footprint and encourage them to travel more by public transport, by “adopting” a tree in their city or even far away where needed (e.g. in the Amazon area). Another option could be, for every time they use the bus, a green area could be watered and for a specific number of km travelled, new trees could be planted by relevant environmental organizations. The strength of this application is that it would be able to combine many different ways of contributing to protecting the environment by using public transport.

2.4
  • ITS
  • Marketing and promotion, customer care

Implementation case
Any
Any
  • Attracting more customers
  • Increase customer satisfaction

  • Adaptiveness to evolving markets and customer needs
  • Better experience

Maturity
  • Corporate social responsibility
  • Environmental degradation
  • Individual empowerment
  • Innovative technologies
  • Sustainable lifestyle

OB1.22

As this application aims at motivating people to make more environmental-friendly choices for their daily commute, it will work more efficiently if there are actually a sufficient number of “green” options available in the area. Therefore, the launch of the application could be treated as a “supporting action” itself; it could accompany the introduction of green policies, such as the promotion of the use of electric cars, car-pooling etc., under the objective of combining these options with public transport (in a multi-modal trip) to get maximum “green” benefits. This way, the app could work as an additional incentive to mobilise the change of cultural attitude towards commuting without harming the environment.

Medium (4 to 8 months)
Low (<1 KEuro)
Low (<5 KEuro)
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