Stanford University
IN-2: Innovation 2

The Capri (Congestion And Parking Relief Incentives) project studies the impact of incentives---monetary rewards, social influence and personalized recommendations---on commute patterns and parking preferences at Stanford University. The goals are to reduce peak hour commuting, shift parking from congested lots to underutilized lots, and improve wellness for Stanford commuters by encouraging walking and biking. The main tools for inducing the behavior changes are monetary incentives paid out as lotteries through games, cloud and mobile user interfaces, and social networking among the commuters in Capri.

Each year Santa Clara County measures vehicle arrivals and departures on campus to see if the university is exceeding the maximum number of peak commute trips allowed under the General Use Permit. The numbers for Stanford had been rising for the past few years, but in Capri's first year the tide was stemmed and the university was one trip below the limit. Capri participants are seen to shift their commutes away from the morning and afternoon peak hours. The result from the first phase of the project was encouraging. The program had 2,993 participants signed up in its first year. Capri launched two new features provided through a smartphone app called My Beats in May 2013, which is available for iPhone and Android smartphones. The first feature incentivizes commuters for biking or walking to campus to further reduce congestion on campus. The second feature, called Walk'N’Talk, provides incentives for conducting work meetings while walking. This app helps detect commute patterns and behaviors while promoting wellness. Since the launch of My Beats in May 2013, enrollment number for Capri has increased to approximately 4,000 participants.