ARPA-E and The Connected Traveler: A Framework to Reduce Energy Use in Transportation (Text Version)
This is the text version of a video about The Connected Traveler, a project led by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E).
Video opens with shots of slow-moving traffic.
Andrew Duvall: As more people compete for less space on roadways and try to go about their daily lives…
Video cuts to people entering/exiting a subway train.
Andrew Duvall: …commuting, traveling...
Video cuts to researcher Andrew Duvall on-screen.
Caption: Andrew Duvall, transportation behavior analyst, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Andrew Duvall: …we have to really think about unique and unexplored approaches to satisfying their mobility needs…
Video cuts to aerial views of slow-moving traffic and congestion at the intersection of two highways.
Andrew Duvall: …without just replicating the things that we've attempted to do in the past.
Video cuts back to Andrew Duvall on-screen.
Andrew Duvall: It really requires a new approach to re-envisioning and reimagining what urban mobility…
Video cuts to aerial shot of automated, futuristic-looking vehicles driving on a highway.
Andrew Duvall: …and travel in the city will look like.
Video cuts to a screenshot of a webpage for ARPA-E/The Connected Traveler project.
Jacob Holden: In The Connected Traveler project, we're realizing as things in transportation change so rapidly…
Video cuts to Jacob Holden on-screen.
Caption: Jacob Holden, mobility systems engineer, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Jacob Holden: …the human interaction with things like smart phones, and with the internet, and with modern information technologies, influences people's travel behavior more than almost any other stimulus.
Video cuts to woman standing on a curb and using a smart phone as a taxi pulls up next to her.
Andrew Duvall: A transportation behavior analyst…
Video cuts to two women in a city looking for their ride-share driver and pointing toward the street.
Andrew Duvall: …makes sure that the human element in transportation is considered.
Video cuts to footage of two people walking down a city sidewalk. One of them looks at his watch.
Andrew Duvall: Thinking about all of the decision processes and possible places where people might choose…
Video cuts back to Andrew Duvall on-screen.
Andrew Duvall: …one form of transportation over another is part of understanding…
Video cuts sped-up footage of vehicle traffic on a highway.
Andrew Duvall: …the bigger, overall transportation picture.
Video cuts back to Andrew Duvall on-screen.
Andrew Duvall: The Connected Traveler project…
Video cuts to a screenshot of a webpage for ARPA-E/TRANSNET project.
Andrew Duvall: …was part of a group of projects under what was called "TRANSNET"…
Video cuts back to Andrew Duvall on-screen.
Andrew Duvall: …which was funded by ARPA-E.
Video cuts to screenshots of The Connected Traveler project app moving from right to left across a black screen.
Andrew Duvall: The project was one of the first funded attempts to look at ways to nudge behavior among people toward more…
Video cuts back to Andrew Duvall on-screen.
Andrew Duvall: …energy-efficient or sustainable mobility options using incentives or information…
Video cuts back to a screenshot of The Connected Traveler project app.
Andrew Duvall: …to help them make those choices.
Video cuts to Jacob Holden looking at a complex line graph displayed on a large, wall-mounted screen in a conference room.
Jacob Holden: Shortly after wrapping up The Connected Traveler project, a colleague and I here at NREL…
Video cuts back to Jacob Holden speaking.
Jacob Holden: …were able to participate in the DOE Energy I-Corps program.
Video cuts to Jacob Holden drawing a project-related graph on a whiteboard.
Jacob Holden: In I-Corps, we spent two months learning about viable pathways to market.
Video cuts back to Jacob Holden speaking.
Jacob Holden: We talked to over a hundred potential customers…
Video cuts to Jacob Holden sitting in a conference room, looking at project-related data displayed on a screen off-camera.
Jacob Holden: …and thanks to ARPA-E plus the I-Corps program…
Video cuts to project-related data displayed on a large, wall-mounted screen in a conference room.
Jacob Holden: …we've identified a lot of potential commercial applications and also uncovered…
Video cuts to Jacob Holden and Andrew Duvall sitting on opposite sides of a table in a conference room, looking at project-related data displayed on a wall-mounted screen.
Jacob Holden: …new areas to develop the tool and new capabilities to add…
Video cuts to Jacob Holden and Andrew Duvall sitting in a conference room, but from a different camera angle, looking at project-related data displayed on a screen off-camera.
Jacob Holden: …that would make the tool more attractive for commercialization.
Video cuts back to Andrew Duvall speaking.
Andrew Duvall: This project would have been considerably more difficult without the support of ARPA-E.
Video cuts to Jacob Holden looking at a complex graph displayed on a large, wall-mounted screen in a conference room.
Andrew Duvall: It falls within kind of a high-risk/high-reward…
Video cuts to Jacob Holden and Andrew Duvall looking at a complex graph displayed on a wall-mounted screen in a conference room. Andrew Duvall points to the screen.
Andrew Duvall: …(at least potential reward) type of project that other organizations may not…
Video cuts back to Andrew Duvall speaking.
Andrew Duvall: …have been as interested in funding.
Video cuts to a screenshot of The Connected Traveler project app.
Andrew Duvall: However, with ARPA-E funding, we achieved a fair amount of success with the project and…
Video cuts back to Andrew Duvall on-screen.
Andrew Duvall: …it's grown into a range of…
Video cuts to a close-up of a hand scrolling through project-related data on a laptop computer.
Andrew Duvall: …tools that are used in other research work.
Video cuts back to Jacob Holden on-screen.
Jacob Holden: We've grown for the better, bringing together the worlds of behavioral science and engineering...
Video cuts to close-up footage of hands holding onto an overhead bar in a subway car.
Jacob Holden: …to more accurately model the choices that people are making and…
Video cuts to a sign that reads “Ride Share Pick-Up” located on the sidewalk of a moderately busy street.
Jacob Holden: …having realistic expectations about…
Video cuts to a woman scrolling through her smart phone while waiting on a train platform.
Jacob Holden: …adoption of new technologies…
Video cuts to close-up footage of a hand holding a smart phone on which a ride-sharing app is visible.
Jacob Holden: …and also better characterizing the human-technology interface and how that stands to impact our energy consumption.
Video concludes with aerial, sped-up footage of vehicle traffic at the intersection of two large highways.. Words appear on-screen, “Learn how NREL is transforming transportation at nrel.gov”
For more information, refer to the related feature article.
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