Transport Smartphone Applications Survey

Abstract

This paper examines methods of communicating and presenting information to individuals about transport and travel related carbon emissions for online journey planners and smartphone applications. As users may not be familiar with the magnitude of such emissions, many of these calculators employ techniques designed to help the user better understand their emissions and provide some context for the user . This study examines four different methods of communicating and contextualising trip related carbon emissions based u pon methods already in used by a variety of carbon calculators. These methods included a simple numerical representation of emissions in the form of kilograms of CO 2 produced, a “lightbulb” method used to contextualize the emissions, a weekly carbon budget , and a graphical “traffic light system”. Results indicate that while that there is a strong correlation between understanding of methods and likelihood of altering mode choice. Significant preferences exist for each of the methods, and age and gender appear to be indicators of personal preference .