GoCarma Smartphone App Launching in New York to Demonstrate Fairer Congestion Pricing
July 23 2024 - 12:30PM
Business Wire
Technology aims to reduce fees for drivers and address equity
issues while building sustainable revenue for the state.
Carma Technology Corporation (Carma) is launching its smartphone
app in the region to prove it can solve New York's road congestion
pricing challenges. The app creator wants policymakers to extend
the state's congestion pricing plan to apply incentives for certain
drivers and travel behaviors. The approach offers the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority (MTA) the ability to provide rebates,
credits and exemptions to drivers with a low income and
low-polluting vehicles.
"Tolling projects often become complex and costly," says Carma
CEO Lawrence Mulligan. "Making congestion pricing work for a state
like New York in a fairer and transparent way doesn't have to be
complicated or costly. GoCarma is a hands-free app that activates
whenever you enter Manhattan through any of the bridges and
tunnels, just like a toll tag. With MTA's support, the app can
easily offer discounts for qualifying low-income drivers,
high-occupancy vehicles or any other vehicles MTA wishes. We're
ready to implement this solution."
Anyone in the greater New York area can try out congestion
pricing by installing the GoCarma app. While no charges will be
applied, the app will process transactions and display to drivers
what they would pay on their journey into New York's Central
Business District when congestion pricing is introduced.
Travelers only need to install and set up the app. They don't
need to open it again for individual trips as the technology "wakes
up" and runs in the background on specific roads. It then goes to
sleep outside of those areas, safeguarding the user's privacy and
avoiding driver distraction.
The GoCarma system is already integrated with 2 high-volume toll
transaction processing systems in the Dallas-Fort Worth region,
where the smartphone app is used across a 120-mile network of
express lanes. It functions as a standalone tolling solution
without requiring toll tags, processing more than 1 million monthly
transactions without roadside infrastructure. The app also offers
the ability to price road travel based on real-time traffic flow or
air quality – not just in congestion zones or on managed lanes –
but on any road.
"Almost $550 million has already been invested in toll
infrastructure for New York congestion pricing," says Emmett
Murphy, Carma Chief Product Officer. "We wanted to show that
smartphone tolling offers unique potential for making toll
collection more cost-effective, personal and fair. So we set up
this demonstration project for free, and in less than 30 days."
About Carma Technology Corporation: Carma Technology
Corporation is an industry leader revolutionizing road pricing and
offers the ability to apply flexible road pricing anywhere,
anytime. A trusted partner of government agencies for over 15
years, Carma empowers sustainable revenue while dissolving traffic
congestion - without any costly infrastructure investments.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240722234279/en/
Media Contact: Paul Steinberg 408-540-9942
paul.steinberg@gocarma.com.