Contra Costa County, Calif., just east of San Francisco, is working diligently to find the apps and incentives that work best for its commuters. Its latest attempt is working with Scoop to provide a $2 subsidy for people to carpool with others who live in the county but travel outside of it to get to work.
The agreement between Scoop and Contra Costa County comes as officials are realizing that carpool lanes — designed to encourage ridesharing — are often underutilized. They hope the app may help reverse that trend, motivating riders to do a better job of filling empty seats in high-occupancy vehicle lanes on interstates 80 and 680, and Highway 4, and, when it opens in the next year, in the new express lane on Interstate 680, which will feature tiered pricing by number of passengers.
Corinne Dutra-Roberts, program manager at 511 Contra Costa, the county’s TDM agency, said it already offers financial incentives to drivers who agree to try alternate means of transportation, but many “in the past were honor-based.” She would like the partnership to generate lasting commitments to keeping vehicles off county highways during peak driving periods and yield verifiable results.
“So far, we only deal in carrots. We don’t deal in sticks. The carrot is ‘Try something else, drive less,’” Dutra-Roberts said, referring to previous incentives. “But we would look at how ride-sourcing can basically change the landscape and the mechanics of offering carrots.”
Data on Contra Costa County users won’t be available for weeks, but David Clavens, Scoop’s director of marketing, said ridership tends to rise when agencies provide a subsidy. “The reason people use Scoop most times is the time savings and the social benefit. This is modernized carpooling. Our most popular routes are 15 to 20 miles where folks get into the car, meet somebody new and take the stress off,” Clavens said.