City Of Fort Worth: GoCarma: A New Way To Earn HOV Discounts

Press release from City of Fort Worth:

September 23, 2021

Throughout the pandemic, many North Texans have been working from home and may not have thought much about carpooling. But with offices reopening across the region and commuting resuming, sharing a ride may once again be a good way to get to work safely and reliably.

If commuters choose to ride with coworkers, family or friends, they could save on more than just gas on some roadways across Dallas-Fort Worth. TEXpress Lanes are managed lanes found on eight major corridors throughout the region. Regional Transportation Council policies provide a toll discount for people riding together in these lanes during weekday peak periods (6:30-9 a.m. and 3-6:30 p.m.)

The GoCarma app is now being used to qualify for these HOV discounts. GoCarma is a smartphone app developed by Carma Technology Corp. that uses Bluetooth and GPS to automatically verify two or more people are riding together in a vehicle. As long as at least two people in the car have the GoCarma , they will be eligible for the HOV 50% toll discount. (An optional non-trackable, Bluetooth occupant pass is available for non-smartphone users.) Once the app is installed, users never need to open the app again.

“Dallas-Fort Worth is one of the fastest-growing regions in the country, adding more than 1 million new residents every eight years,” NCTCOG Director of Transportation Michael Morris said. “To accommodate this growth, the transportation system needs to be flexible and innovative. Our TEXpress Lanes system gives us that flexibility by providing drivers increased reliability in some of the region’s busiest corridors.”

The TEXpress Lane system was established to enable users of some of the region’s most highly traveled roadways to reach their destinations more reliably. On these roadways, drivers can either choose to pay a variable toll to travel on the TEXpress Lanes (with traffic managed to allow speeds of at least 50 mph), or they can use the general-purpose lanes for no additional charge.

So far, the GoCarma app has been used by more than 40,000 daily commuters in Dallas-Fort Worth and verified more than 1.5 million HOV transactions. GoCarma is available free in the App Store and on Google Play.

Photo: The GoCarma app gives North Texans who travel managed lanes a safe and efficient way of qualifying for HOV discounts.

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This press release was produced by City of Fort Worth. The views expressed here are the author’s own.