PROVIDENCE – An app designed to help drivers reduce their time behind the wheel has hit the streets in Providence.
GoEzy, an app developed by the Texas-based Metropia, launched this week in Providence in support of the Federal Highway Administration’s Smartphone Travel Incentive Study. The app provides suggestions on how to avoid traffic, as well as opportunities to avoid driving altogether.
The Smartphone Travel Incentive Study aims to foster a better understanding of traveler behavior, such as what influences travel choices, to inform future transportation policy.
The app will temporarily allow commuters to earn rewards, such as gift cards, for following suggestions such as leaving for a trip earlier than planned, taking an R.I. Public Transit Authority bus, or using a bike or carpool to get to work.
“Many drivers have simply given up and accepted traffic as part of their day,” Chris Colemon, leader of Smartphone’s recruitment efforts, said in a statement. “But the truth is, you can make small changes to avoid traffic and reduce that stress in your life.”
Martina Haggerty, director of special projects at Providence City Planning, said the app will encourage “another way to reduce carbon emissions and ease traffic in Providence.”
Jacquelyn Voghel is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Voghel@PBN.com.
