The App That Pays You to Find a Smarter Commute

Humans are creatures of habit, and that’s certainly true when it comes to commuting. But University of Maryland researchers behind a new app are betting that with the right incentives, commuters might switch to “smarter” routes—ones that are better for the environment, for the user, and for all the other people trying to move around.

The app, called Incentrip, is part of a $4.5 million research project funded by the Department of Energy to predict traffic and ease congestion. Currently being piloted in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, it essentially turns the commuting experience into a game. When users put their destination into the app, they’re shown a handful of options—car, bus, subway, biking, and ride-sharing—with information about the length, time, and amount of fuel consumed for each mode.