The goal of motivating users to change their travel behaviors, choices, and habits is difficult and challenging to achieve. Metropia, the prime contractor, has expertise as well as practical experience from previous efforts aimed at motivating commuters to change their travel habits by identifying their pain points and understanding what drives their behavior. Metropia is leading the technical development for the DI project, deploying the incentives engine and mobile app, and managing third-party integration.
DI project management guidance, coordination, and oversight is being provided by VDOT and DRPT, who coordinate efforts across all team members to achieve project goals. Efforts include overseeing and directing activities and deliverables to ensure on-time delivery, contributing specific expertise, from technical leadership and program oversight to business ownership and supplier management, and supporting comprehensive project governance and execution.
The project management team is led by Chris Arabia, DRPT, who serves as the Primary Business Owner and Project Manager and Amy McElwain, VDOT, who functions as the Project Principal. Kapsch TrafficCom provides DI strategic management oversight and technical support.
The GoMyWayVA mobile app aims to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion in NoVA by incentivizing residents and visitors to:
- Change Travel Modes: Shift from Single Occupancy Vehicles (SOVs) to more transportation network efficient options like biking, walking, carpooling, vanpooling, and public transit.
- Adjust Travel Routes: Choose alternative routes to bypass congestion caused by accidents or planned events.
- Modify Departure Times: Travel during off-peak hours to ease traffic flow. Implementation involves creating a Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform, focusing on influencing travel behavior, integrating data, and establishing a sustainable business model. Through this framework, the DI program element seeks to leverage technology and partnerships to drive meaningful changes in travel habits and improve network efficiency.
The incentives offered under DI will be organized into three complementary programs, as follow:
- Dynamic Incentives – created for benefiting users to avoid major issues in the transportation network, such as roadway incidents in real-time.
- Challenges – offer users short-term goals, fostering engagement with the GoMyWayVA app and its diverse features tailored to users’ preferred travel modes.
- Loyalty Incentives – designed to drive both user retention and loyalty by encouraging sustainable commuting behaviors through dynamic, user-focused incentives.
The timeframe for full launch of DI is currently projected for Fall 2025. Rollout of the system is scheduled to be undertaken as shown below.
