10/10 Commuter Challenge (Finalist.)

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Community Rating

7.79167
Rating: 
7.79167

UPDATE: 2011/11/14

Thank you to everyone who spent the time commenting and voting for our project, 10/10 Commuter Challenge. Like our other idea (GardenShare), many of the questions you are asking, we asked ourselves when we set out to design this project. Please read through the comments and my answers.

Contestant organization: 
Summerhill Impact
Venture partners: 

TBD

Describe your venture: 

UPDATE: 2011/11/14

Thank you to everyone who spent the time commenting and voting for our project, 10/10 Commuter Challenge. Like our other idea (GardenShare), many of the questions you are asking, we asked ourselves when we set out to design this project. Please read through the comments and my answers.

We think it's time to take the lessons learned from sophisticated demand side management programs in the electricity/gas sector to the transportation sector. Clearly, people in Toronto are open to participating in these types of initiatives. We've changed out our lightbulbs, exchanged our old appliances, and are taking to our smart meters. The opportunities to drive similar behaviour change around commuting habits can help to transform our city. But it's beyond a simple rewards program - it's about creating a vision of how we want to move around. And we think this is the first step in creating that vision.

Some things I'd like to clarify:

1. The plan is to eventually reach 10% of all commuters. But there will be a pilot phase and scaled approach, as we  hone our approach.

2. We will have 2 options for commuters: hardware installed in their vehicle or a smartphone app.

3. We will utilize the power of social media to launch and start registering. Summerhill Impact ambassadors will also be present at major events around the city. Partnerships with the private sector will also provide channels to encourage participation.

Please read the great questions and our answers below. It is certainly a challenge to put all of the details of our plan into the format of ClimateSpark. Summerhill Impact has always been successful in finding unique solutions to common problems, and we want people to TAKE ACTION. Our track record in building partnerships with the public and private sector would give investors the confidence that we can rise above many of the barriers discussed in this forum.

We are thrilled to be considered for the next round and we look forward to sharing more details soon with everyone.

Thanks again...and we hope to see you in the next round!

Corey

-----------------------

The 10/10 Commuter Challenge is a project aimed at helping motorists in the City of Toronto to reduce their vehicle kilometers travelled (VKT) by providing unique incentives and information. The concept is simple – reward those that limit their commuter trips with incentives that will really motivate them to take action. Through the use of meter technology, each participating motorist will be able to track their VKT and given travel optimization tips, alternate commuting information and messaging about how close they are to their target. The goal is to get people to reduce their VKTs over a set amount of time by 10% - incentives could include 10% off gasoline purchases, 10% off insurance premiums and/or 10% discounts on TTC metropasses.

 

The program is modeled after the successful 10/10 Summer Challenge Toronto Hydro ran in 2007, which provided a 10% hydro bill discount should a customer reach their 10% conservation target. 29% of eligible customer participated in the program in Year One, with an annual savings of 71 GWh. In Year Two, an opt-in model was used, but 18% of Toronto Hydro customers still participated. We believe people in Toronto are excited and willing to participate in such challenges, and with the right financial rewards, will take action to change their behaviour.

 

The long term objectives of the program are:

 

  • To engage 10% of motorists in the City of Toronto to reduce their VKTs over a 4 month period by 10%
  • To reduce 63,542 tonnes of GHGs
  • To encourage Toronto motorists to switch to other mobility options – such as TTC, carpooling, bicycle etc.
  • To create a grassroots, social marketing campaign that gets people to take real action in their lives, thus reducing their dependency on their vehicle, improving quality of life and local economic development

 

We feel this program has great benefit for Toronto by helping to ease traffic congestion, improve air quality, educate thousands of people and create (and ideally win) a conversation about what individuals can do to improve environmental health.

Emissions reduction potential: 

We believe, at its peak,  the annual impact of the 10/10 Commuter Challenge would be 63,542 tonnes of GHGs reduced. Here is our rationale:

 

There are approximately 1.7 million motorists in the GTA (StatsCan). The goal would be to enroll 10% of these commuters  (170,000 total).

 

According to a report published by TAF, Toronto motorists produce about 6,354,256 tonnes of CO2/equivalent. Divided by the total number of motorists, each Toronto commuter emits 3.74 tonnes of GHGs. We are planning to enroll 170,000 motorists and encouraging them all to reduce their VKTs by 10%. This would result in 63,542 tonnes of GHGs.

The team: 

Engaging the public in behaviour change and actions that lead to environmental and social improvements are essential for addressing climate change, improving air quality, increasing social well-being and supporting the development of progressive public policy.

 

The commuting public, and in particular, motorists, are an important contributor to the production of greenhouse gas emissions, smog-forming pollutants and traffic congestion, through individual and household transportation patterns. This includes the frequency and quantity of vehicle use, as well as vehicle maintenance, driving behaviour, and the uptake of other commuting options.

 

Since 2000, Summerhill Impact has been committed to creating and implementing strategic initiatives which generate sustained environmental and social improvements, by developing partnerships and engaging the public, to influence consumer behaviour.

 

Some of our initiatives and results include:

 

  • Mow Down Pollution (lawnmower retirement program) – 45,650 inefficient mowers and trimmers have been retired, resulting in the reduction of 748 tonnes of greenhouse gas and smog forming emissions
  • Retire Your Ride/Car Heaven (vehicle retirement program) – 260,791 old gas guzzling cars have been retired and responsibly recycled since 2000, resulting in 9,900 tonnes of smog-forming emissions
  • Switch Out (mercury switch collection) – 477,708 automotive mercury switches collected to date across Canada, representing 278 kg of mercury
  • Switch the ‘Stat (mercurt thermostat collection) – over 68,000 thermostats collected, representing 138 kg of mercury
  • Keep Cool (room air conditioner retirement) – over 45,600 room air conditioners retired, representing over 30 MW of energy savings

 

Like every Summerhill initiative, we leverage the needs and resources of the private, public and not-for-profit sector to create actions that sustain environmental results. Summerhill will work with the automotive sector, oil and gas companies, local and provincial governments, transit authorities, and community groups to ensure the 10/10 Commuter Challenge meets its goals.

Seeking collaborators: 
No
How will you ensure your project is self supporting within five years?: 

The venture is meant to be supported in similar fashion to many of Summerhill Impact’s social ventures – through leveraging private and public sector resources to drive social and environmental change. We have long standing partnerships with auto manufacturers, oil and gas companies and government agencies who would all benefit from the outcomes of the 10/10 Commuter Challenge.

 

We believe the value in the project is also in the data collected about driver habits, and this could propel a self-supporting finance model. Many in the public and private sector would love to know the commuting habits of individual motorists, in an effort to sell add-on goods and services. For example, companies such as GM Goodwrench could sell maintenance packages customized to the driving habits of the 170,000 motorists enrolled in the program. We will develop the plan to monetize this data after an initial Year One pilot. In this sense, we become the “Facebook” of the commuting world.

 

Secondly, we believe that with the in-car meter/monitoring system and online report cards, there will be options to sell advertising to motorists. This would be limited to messages about ways commuters can reduce their environmental impact through improved vehicle maintenance, as well as shifts to lower-emitting forms of transportation.

How did you hear about ClimateSpark?: 
From TAF

Comments

Great idea; well thought out and actionable.

I think you have a great idea here, and your biggest challenge will be to get the corporations to cooperate.  It was one thing for Hydro to offer rewards/discounts, but it's another to get the oil companies to reward you for using them less, and getting insurance and transit to offer discounts.  I'm all for it though, if you can pull it off.

Yes, it will be a challenge, but from our research, the gas companies are looking for ways to differentiate themselves in the marketplace. They make great margin on products in the retail stores, so there could be some opportunities there. And loyalty points have great value as well. 

We have been able to get discounts from several transit companies in our Retire Your Ride and Car Heaven programs.

Thanks for your support!

 

Strengths are that it will improve the commuting distance if people share drives. Great idea...and you will meet more neighbours to boot.

How could this proposal be improved?: 

Computerized registration system

jprowse's picture

I like the idea very much of getting cars off the road. The idea of a challenge is intriguing as we are planning our own challenge as part of the social media game we are developing - perhaps you might consider talking with us?

How could this proposal be improved?: 

Says you are not seeking collaborators so I am unsure how GreenHeroes could use the tools/plan you are proposing.

I think this is a fantastic idea. I hope that eventually the program is available to commuters who live outside of Toronto but drive into the city to work. Imagine what 10% less congestion on the 401 might look like!

Getting people out of cars is great for the environment. Incentives work!

This program should go beyond the City. Our roads are clogged with cars from the suburbs.

This is a major issue that we need to deal with in Toronto.

How could this proposal be improved?: 

When I lived in Jasper AB, the town did something like this. People really got into it!

Empowering drivers to make changes for themselves, the environment and the community!

I love incentives to make change for the better!!!

How could this proposal be improved?: 

?

With the help of Corporate Community this idea is not only viable but necessary

Easy to implement and can lead the way to bigger achivements.

This is a cool idea. But what do you mean by meter technology? Just having people enter in their miles? Or make them carry around a hardware gadget? This won't be as easily adopted by people.

How could this proposal be improved?: 

Make an iPhone or Android app to track mileage/locations, and start from there.

We have been speaking with a number of suppliers. Hardware - the type used by fleets around the world - is more accurate re: location based GPS. However, we plan to do an open call for app developers to make it easy for smartphones to be utilized.

Appreciate the feedback!

Zell's picture

Can you please clarify what you said below,

We will develop the plan to monetize this data after an initial Year One pilot. In this sense, we become the “Facebook” of the commuting world.

I would like you to expand on this statement please.

How can 170,000 people register in Toronto and get polled in such a why?

What is the hardware transmitor that will get the info from the cars that are tracking the mileage of the cars.

How does the type of car and type of gas used change the metrics?

 

How could this proposal be improved?: 

How will you register drivers to get on board and be part of the polling?

What is the hardware transmitor that will get the info from the cars and use it to calculate the savings?

Could you focus on ETR travelers first from the suburbs?

Thanks for your questions. Here are some answers:

1. The Facebook business model works by providing access to people's behaviour/interests to advertisers. We believe that there are many interested parties - auto dealers, maintenance companies, insuranace companies, telecom companies etc. - who would see value in the behaviour of a large pool of drivers. 

2. We will launch the campaign with a heavy social media/viral push, and build on community support from drivers who are enrolled. We would phase in the full pool - surely opening with 170,000 drivers off the bat would be the wrong approach. We will pilot, and bring to scale based on learnings from Year One.

3. We are in discussions with a manufacturer of the hardware. They currently sell their hardware internationally. We  will also be doing an open call for app developers to create a smartphone app. We will be offering both methods in Year One.

4. Type of car and gas used definetly adjusts the GHG savings. All of this will be tracked.

5. We will register online, at community events and by using social media to feature people who have enrolled.

6. We will focus on City of Toronto motorists.

4. 

It's still not quite clear how the track and reward system works.  Further details are needed for better buy in.

Thanks. We certainly find it a challenge getting all the details of our initiative into the description we have provided. At a high level, the program works like this:

1. Sign up and agree to measure and track your commuter VKTs. Each user will be able to choose the parameters of their commute (i.e. time, km, route etc.). 

2. We will track your commuter VKTs against a baseline.

3. We will provide a reward for those that have reduced their commuter VKTs by 10%. Rewards will be established through partnerships that we create (i.e. gas companies, insurance companies, maintenance etc.). We will also seek partnerships with loyalty points programs.

 

I think that this idea is wonderful in many ways.  The only problem i have with this idea is that i think that most people are not aware of how big a problem driving ,and usuing gasoline everywhere, really is.  But the idea that people get rewarded for helping the evironment is encouraging. 

To me the best part of this project is the indepth information on many people's driving habits that can be received, using better data allows for better solutions to be modeled.  Good plan. Summerhill has built a solid track record from past initiatives and may be well positioned to pull off something of this scale (170,000 vehicles is significant).

How could this proposal be improved?: 

As technology for low emission vehicles (plug in electric, hybrid) improves and becomes more readily available the market will continue to shift.  The vehicle companies that are current leaders in this area, or the ones who would like to be, should be particularly interested in the kind of information generated by this project - good opportunity for partnerships to increase ultra-low emission vehicles on our roads.

080808's picture

Great idea especially with a reward system

How could this proposal be improved?: 

The point system could allow a stock market game similar to the one used on Climate Sparks site.

 

trutty's picture

I think this is a gret idea to get morotists to cut back but isn's this exactly what the city's Smart Commute program already does?  I'm wondering how this program is different and how do you plan to make this profitable?

Pollution Probe's Clean Air Commute and the City's Smart Commute program have been pioneers in helping to reduce VKTs associated with commuter travel. We applaud those efforts and can learn a lot from them. 

We believe our initiative takes it one step further, through partnerships with the private sector. We believe there is a strong business case for many different types of companies to partner on the 10/10 Commuter Challenge. Companies can directly market services such as maintenance based on the behaviour of the motorist they are targetting, thus leading to a higher sales conversion rate (as compared to traditional marketing, like print ads).

Summerhill Impact will develop these partnerships and connect companies to their customers, in a meaningful and sustainable way.  

Even with the increas in the price of gasoline, those who loves to drive will drive.  Would love to see how this idea gets rolled out.

How could this proposal be improved?: 

Creating more live/work communities.

I like the goals but find the proposal a bit hard to grasp.

How could this proposal be improved?: 

Perhaps you could explain how you plan to recruit such a large number of drivers. I get the incentives but how will you spread the message?

Sandra Oh's picture

Strength: At this point, its an interesting concept and certainly warrants further attention to develop into a real plan

Weakness: I may be the lone commenter here, but there is no plan identified by presenter.  At least, not from what I read above. What the presenter did very well was identify goals, which should not be confused with statement of work and project milestones

 

How could this proposal be improved?: 

Proposed Goal #1: Reduce vehicle-kilometres travelled (VKT) by 10% in 4 months

How will you measure, collect, analyze, sort and monetize the VKTs?  You refer to Toronto Hydro's 10/10 Challenge, but utilities already have power meters installed at every residential, commercial & industrial point-of-use.  Plus, there are data collection & billing processes already in place.  Without the need to install new hardware, the building occupant will adjust his/her consumption levels and a bill will "automatically" be generated, thus monetizing the kWh consumed.

Similarly, vehicles come with meters already installed too: odometers & speedometers.  But, aside from the driver manually tracking his/her consumption (i.e. kilometres-travelled), how will you record this data, compile it, sort it and re-apply it to 170K motorists?

I suppose you could harness the strength of GPS technologies.  Even so, the question remains: Do you have a plan in place to you compile the data, analyze it, and sort it with enough accuracy so that you can monetize it for 170K motorists?  

If you forgo manual-reading and install new "in-car meters" (to mitigate lazy or forgetful drivers), then you'll have to do so for less than $3 per vehicle.  (Assuming you win full $500K funding: $500K/170K units = $2.94 for device plus labour per vehicle.  Lesson: Don't propose to install anything new in the cars)

In San Francisco, IBM (in partnership with California DOT) is collecting data from commuters' smartphones.  Food for thought.

 

Proposed Goal #2: Sell commuting-habits data of 170K motorists to businesses

Also very interesting—especially for long-term sustainability of your plan.  But again, what are the mechanisms through which you will achieve this?

Beyond GM Goodwrench, I reckon this data is sell-able to many organizations from insurance firms to retailers & fast-food to toll-road operators to city planners.

++

In closing, you have a good-hearted and lofty concept with potentially achievable goals.  Once you put a plan around it (e.g. milestones, deadlines, personnel, budget), then you'll be very investment-worthy

 

but definitely addresses a need, if only to start the conversation amongst 10% of the city's commuters. 

It will be interesting to see how you can involve oil & gas in convincing commuters to reduce their consumption!

Sandra - excellent comments. thanks. Here are some answers:

 

1. We are in partnership with a hardware company who is renowned internationally for installing hardware meters. We will also be doing an open call for developers to create an app for smartphones. Both models will be offered and tested in Year One. 

2. Re: funding. We believe that the ClimateSpark investment group would provide part of the budget associated with the project. We will be seeking other sources of funding, including: private sector partnerships, advertising, government grants and partnerships with transportation agencies (e.g. Metrolinx). 

3. We have a plan to collect and harness the data. We will be creating a seamless online tool that will allow any participant to check their behaviour, how they're doing against their stated goal, and how they're doing against other participants. An Facebook community will be created to share tips, lessons learned and most importantly to brag about what you're doing! We will be developing the backend software capable of handling the data requests and turning into user-friendly information for participants and analysis for private sector partners.

4. It is certainly a challenge to put all of the details of our plan into the format of ClimateSpark. Additionally, at this stage, we have to be careful about not giving away too many trade secrets (i.e. our operational plan) in a public forum. I'm thrilled that you think this idea may be investment worthy - we look forward to the next round where we can get more into the details of the project.

 

Sounds like a good plan to reduce congestion in the GTA and as I said before a good way to perhaps incoorporate exercise into daily routine.

 

What if the person uses another car that doesn't have the hardware installed in it?  

 

 

How could this proposal be improved?: 

Maybe if some commuters end up reducing their VKT by way more than 10% they could also be rewarded somehow?

080808's picture

What partners do you have in mind for collaboration if any?

How could this proposal be improved?: 

Interested in knowing would you would approach if any

This concept could really play into the "gamification" of interactive marketing, and draw out some real-world results

Strength: I like the idea of using smartphone apps and event ambassadors

Weakness: having participants carry through beyond initial stages will require very attractive incentives

A great idea, well thought out. I think it's worth a shot.

Strength-reduce pollution

Weakness-the accuracy of monitoring the results

Great idea to encourage people to reduce their VKT. We need this for both emissions reduction reasons as well as traffic congestion. Need to make sure there is an engaging on-line source/community to allow participants to brag about their redcution accomplishments as well as share their tips/thoughts to encourage others to get involved.

This is a very interesting idea and I would love to see it in action. This would help with our very congested roads and also provide great data!

The city of Toronto is being completely choked out by vehicle traffic.  It seems like every hour is rush hour now.  I've always hoped that someone would come up with a way to reduce vehicle use, and this seems like a great way to do it.  You're giving people a concept that they can grasp, understand and control.  And you're viving them an incentive, which is a great way to kick off a movement towards better habits. 

To make the proposal even stronger, overachievement bonuses could be added.  

Love the iphone ap suggestions - this will require people who are already comfortable with sharing data and won't feel like this is an imposition of gov't controlled forces trying to track their movements

GreenHeroes's picture

The 10/10 Commuter Challenge is a great idea for a Campaign and it is exactly this sort of initiative that people need to learn about through social media, on TV and beyond. The ability too to perhaps create an application that helps people communicate as it relates to car pooling and traffic conditions might also be interesting - the potential for this activity to become a great conversation as well as a carbon saver is huge.

How could this proposal be improved?: 

Unclear, as in the case of the GardenShare proposal why collaborators are not being sought? GreenHeroes would be among those interested in participating to spread the word about such an initiative and would be keen as well to figure out how people's commuting stories could be shared in a contest!

Organization that is behind - they will get it done with tangible results

Best of Luck!

How could this proposal be improved?: 

Best of Luck!

By having options available to users such as the smart phone app or the hardware device, the program has a better chance of reaching a wider community.  

Fantastic idea - we need this now!

How could this proposal be improved?: 

Definately include a smart phone app.

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