{"301401":{"#nid":"301401","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Commute Warrior: How Your Commute Can Shape Atlanta\u0027s Transportation Future","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe newest tool in the future of transportation planning is in your hand.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOK, maybe your pocket. Or your purse.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt\u2019s your Android smartphone. And with a quick app download, your phone can help Georgia Tech transportation researchers better understand how people get where they\u2019re going and how much congestion they are facing on their commute (think: speeds on freeways and how you\u2019re driving relative to the flow of traffic).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen you have that kind of data, you can do anything from traffic operations research to safety research to travel behavior studies,\u201d said Professor Randall Guensler, a transportation systems engineer in the School Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Commute Warrior App tracks users\u2019 daily commutes without interfering with the rest of their phones\u2019 functions. Participants are also asked to take a few minutes every week or so to fill out a simple form on their phone or online to explain the purpose of some their trips.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cEverything is completely voluntary,\u201d Guensler said. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to tell us anything about your trips if you don\u2019t want to.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe first project Guensler\u2019s app team is focused on involves commuting in the Interstate 85 corridor in a project sponsored by the National Center for Transportation Systems Productivity and Management (NCTSPM). Guensler said they\u2019re trying to get a thousand commuters to install Commute Warrior this summer.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIn this study, we are trying to figure out why some households are taking GRTA Xpress buses and others are not,\u201d he said. \u201cLiving in the same areas, same demographic characteristics, what is it about their travel that makes one household more amenable to taking the Xpress buses?\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGuensler said they\u2019re also planning a project through the National Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST) specifically for Midtown Atlanta and the surrounding areas that is focused on walking, biking and transit use and the energy implications of those modes of transportation for the neighborhood.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut there\u2019s much more this app can do, Guensler said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhat we really want, ultimately, is to have as many users as we can in Atlanta using [the app] so we can demonstrate how rich the dataset is and all the different research activities it can be used for,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s astounding what you can do with the data when you have it.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to traffic studies, future versions of the app will let users print their commute history, help walkers and bike-riders calculate how many calories they\u2019ve burned, track users\u2019 gasoline consumption, and estimate tailpipe emissions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECurrently, the Commute Warrior app is available only in the Google Play Store for Android devices, but Guensler said they\u2019re currently working on a version that will be compatible with the iPhone 5S.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ce.gatech.edu\/media\/news\/6386\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis story originally appeared on the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering\u0027s website.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECivil Engineering professor studies public transit use.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Civil Engineering professor studies public transit use."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2014-06-05 10:21:49","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:33","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-06-05T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-06-05T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"301421":{"id":"301421","type":"image","title":"Commute Warrior App","body":null,"created":"1449244572","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:56:12","changed":"1475895004","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:04","alt":"Commute Warrior App","file":{"fid":"199554","name":"commutewarriorapp.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/commutewarriorapp_0.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/commutewarriorapp_0.png","mime":"image\/png","size":10611,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/commutewarriorapp_0.png?itok=bvPwhFy-"}},"301411":{"id":"301411","type":"image","title":"Commute Warrior App","body":null,"created":"1449244572","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:56:12","changed":"1475895004","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:04","alt":"Commute Warrior App","file":{"fid":"199553","name":"commutewarriormenu.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/commutewarriormenu_0.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/commutewarriormenu_0.png","mime":"image\/png","size":161404,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/commutewarriormenu_0.png?itok=GhkCqAnr"}}},"media_ids":["301421","301411"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.cee.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Civil and Environmental Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1316","name":"Green Buzz"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"10553","name":"app"},{"id":"1897","name":"Civil Engineering"},{"id":"180","name":"commute"},{"id":"479","name":"Green Buzz"},{"id":"488","name":"transit"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:joshua.stewart@ce.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJosh Stewart\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESchool of Civil and Environmental Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}