Driving Change

This week, I have an appointment with the government, and I’m excited.

No, I don’t mean mailing my gargantuan check to Uncle Sam. Not so thrilled about that one.

I’m talking about Thursday, when I’ll head to a local park to have three small devices affixed to my car:

The two small measuring devices will usually be installed out of sight under the dashboard of the vehicle. This involves a simple 3 wire connection to the battery, ground and ignition. An aesthetically pleasing glass mounted antenna will also be mounted on the inside of the rear window. This 4” oval antenna is easy to install, will not interfere with your field of vision, and requires no holes be drilled into the car.

It’s all part of a new pilot project in Denver called Driving Change. And it’s aesthetically pleasing!

Driving Change, which is sponsored by the City of Denver, as well as some technology companies that are doing the dirty work, will seek to find out whether and how much curbing aggressive driving behaviors decreases global-warming gases being produced by automobiles.

In their words:

Driving Change is the world’s first pilot project to determine if there is a direct, measurable, positive correlation between driving behavior and CO2 emissions.

Driving Change wants to demonstrate how you could easily reduce your vehicle’s carbon footprint up to 20% by identifying aggressive driving styles and helping you modify your behavior. This, in turn, will also lead to reduced fuel expense and consumption.

20-30% of U.S carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions come from the burning of gasoline in internal-combustion engines of cars and light trucks. Aggressive driving behaviors that are being measured in Driving Change increase the production of CO2. By minimizing ‘aggressive’ driving behaviors:

Hard braking

Fast starts

Speeding

Excessive idling

You can reduce your CO2 emissions and gasoline consumption, which means dollar savings at the fuel pumps, too!

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not big on aggressive driving. But I AM crazy about spreadsheets! I can’t wait to see my results. Participants have to commit for a year. I will update here periodically and let you know what I’m learning.

Meanwhile, Denverites, if you want to sign up, go here.