NREL OpenPATH: Track Your Commute, Measure Your Impact

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Open Platform for Agile Trip Heuristics (NREL OpenPATH, https://nrel.gov/openpath) lets you monitor your transportation methods (car, bus, bike, walking, etc.) and calculate their energy consumption and carbon footprint.

This app helps communities understand their travel habits, explore greener options, and assess the outcomes. This data is invaluable for shaping effective transportation policies, planning, and building more sustainable, accessible cities.

OpenPATH provides personalized feedback on your travel choices, while also offering aggregated, community-level data (mode share, trip frequency, carbon footprint) through a public dashboard.

OpenPATH uses continuous data collection and analysis via a smartphone app, server, and automated data processing. Its open design ensures transparent data handling and allows customization for specific projects or studies.

The app initially collects no data. Joining a study or program requires consent to data collection and storage. If you're not participating in a specific program but want to track your personal carbon footprint, you can join NREL's open-access study. Your data may then serve as a control group for partner experiments.

Essentially, the app functions as an automated travel diary, using background location and accelerometer data. You can add details as needed by program administrators or researchers.

To conserve battery life, GPS automatically shuts off when you're stationary. This significantly reduces power consumption, resulting in approximately 5% battery drain with up to 3 hours of daily travel.

What's New in Version 1.9.1

Last updated October 15, 2024

• Push notifications are now optional, accommodating programs that don't require them.