Fuel, cash and emissions savings

[Stan Suchan]

During the outreach we conducted in the past year, we received a lot of favorable response to presenting fuel, cash and emissions savings on the iCarpool/RideshareOnline platform. As a result, a small team of people work together to help iCarpool upgrade some of the algorhythms that drive individual and group (network) savings in the Pacific Northwest. This work took on increased importance since the redesigned logon homepage prominently displays these savings in the Achievements box

This was a challenging task, illustrated by what we heard in recent discussion groups. We heard various, contradictory opinions about how these calculations should work. For example:

• Include parking, insurance, car payments, maintenance, taxes and other costs for drive-alone trips.
• Only use the cost of gasoline for drive-alone trips.
• Use two people when calculating carpool savings.
• Use three people when calculating carpool savings.
• Include transit fare only when calculating transit costs.
• Include transit fare plus the operating subsidy when calculating transit costs.
• Include the cost of shoes for people who walk. 
• Use urban cost averages.
• Use rural cost averages.

With hundreds of networks in the iCarpool system and tens of thousands of users, there's no single method that will meet everyone's expectations, business needs and values. As a result, we chose well-known, widely-credible data sources (e.g. AAA, USDOT) and disclose the sources and methodology. As a result, people can adjust the calculations themselves. You'll find an explanation of the sources and methodologies in the Smart Transportation resources box.   

[Casey Kanzler]

Thanks Stan, I can appreciate the challenges you and the team faced when attempting to reconcile all the divergent interests of such a large group.  Understanding the rationale behind the algorithms will help admins to effectively communicate with end users and various stakeholders about the information being generated by the site.

 

Casey