DEPARTMENT: Transportation & Capital Improvements Department
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Mike Frisbie, PE, Director/City Engineer
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: Citywide
SUBJECT: San Antonio Safest Driver Contest
SUMMARY:
The Transportation & Capital Improvements Department (TCI) will provide a briefing to the City Council Comprehensive Plan Committee on the proposed utilization of the Safest Driver Contest to educate and encourage drivers on safe driving behaviors as part of Vision Zero.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT) has developed the award-winning Safest Driver application that is a complete mobile telematics solution for extracting actionable insights on driving behaviors. The application uses the phone’s sensors to measure driving quality including acceleration; braking; cornering; speeding; and phone distraction. The application analyzes the data collected and then provides drivers with tools to analyze their driving in order to achieve real behavioral change through immediate and ongoing feedback.
The data collected by the Safest Driver application is used to track driving characteristics and ultimately determine the safest driver through a contest. Users can invite friends to compete for top rankings. Competitions can be amongst user’s own contacts or on a citywide scale.
The feedback and gamification in the application engages users and leads to improvements in driving behavior. CMT has shown users see an average reduction of 35% in phone distraction, 20% in hard braking, and 20% in at-risk speeding within 30 days of using the program.
Upon the completion of the contest, the following important data will be provided to the City:
• Challenging road segments based on driver behavior
• Beginning and end location of users’ trips
• Travel time analysis for comparison of travel time delays throughout the day
• Trip modes used include driver, passenger, bike, or bus
• Roadway usage by transportation mode
In October 2016, CMT partnered with the City of Boston Mayor’s Office, Vision Zero, and Arbella Insurance Foundation to create the world’s first safe-driving mobile app developed in a public-private partnership. Employed through the use of the mobile app, Boston launched a 90-day contest. At the completion of the 90-day contest, the City of Boson obtained the following data and reductions in unsafe driver behaviors:
• Over 3 million miles logged (19,000 bike miles)
• Reduction in 47% phone use, 37% in harsh braking, and 35% speeding for the most active users
The capture and evaluation of driver behavior data and immediate and ongoing feedback to users, continues to be a tangible way to educate and encourage Boston’s driving community and inform transportation agencies for effective transportation planning. CMT has now more recently partnered with the City of Seattle to launch a Safest Driver Contest in December 2017.
ISSUE:
In support of the San Antonio’s Vision Zero initative, CMT’s Safest Driver Contest would utilize two of Vision Zero’s essential elements (5“E”s) for a safe transportation system; education and encouragement. By accurately measuring driving quality and providing driver feedback, the Safest Driver Contest will bring awareness to roadway safety and potentially make San Antonio drivers better through friendly competition resulting in safer roadways.
An unlimited number of people can use the mobile application benefitting our San Antonio transportation system by:
• Reducing unsafe driver behaviors through feedback and tips
• Encouraging safe driver behaviors through incentives and competition
• Providing valuable travel information to the City
TCI plans to contract with CMT in January 2018. Once the contract is signed, CMT will build, develop, and test the application, as well as make the application available in the Google Play and Apple’s App Store. The desired launch date would be in April 2018 to coincide with the the National Safety Council’s Distracted Driving Awareness Month.
CMT will execute a joint press-release with the City of San Antonio announcing the program, and possibly participate in the Kickoff/Launch Event. On-going marketing of the contest would be promoted by the City of San Antonio. The following potential partners/sponsors also could perform some of the marketing efforts as well:
• Other City departments focusing on human health and safety
• Transportation agency partners
• Insurance companies
ALTERNATIVES:
This briefing is for informational purposes only.
FISCAL IMPACT:
TCI is working with CMT to obtain a full or partial sponsorship partner for the CMT’s contract costs which include building, developing and testing the application, and executing a joint press release with the City of San Antonio announcing the program. Costs are projected at less than $50,000.00 in total. If a sponsor is not identified, TCI has identified funding from the FY 2018 General Fund Budget for Vision Zero to cover the development costs.
RECOMMENDATION:
This briefing is for informational purposes only.