City of Lahti Launches a Personal Carbon Trading Scheme for Citizens
“The CitiCAP app of Lahti rewards people when the CO2 emissions of mobility are low,” says Anna Huttunen, the project manager for sustainable mobility in the city of Lahti.
Every inhabitant of the city can download the free mobile app that automatically tracks the means of transport used. If the app tracks that the user has replaced driving a car with walking or biking, the app automatically gives the user virtual coins. These coins can be used to purchase tickets for local busses or swimming halls, bags and pedestrian reflectors, for instance.
When using the CitiCAP app, the user can see the personal carbon footprint from transport and how it evolves as they change habits.
In addition to reducing CO2 emissions, the goal of the CitiCAP (Citizens’ Cap and Trade Co-created) project is to collect and make available digital data about mobility. Using that data, the city of Lahti can develop new transport services for its citizens.
The app has been tested by a limited number of users for more than a year. During the peak of the coronavirus crisis, the application has provided valuable information on changes in movement patterns. In Lahti, car traffic decreased by approximately 30% and the number of bus passengers within Lahti decreased by almost 80%.
The app has been developed with the software development kit (SDK) from MOPRIM, headquartered in Helsinki.
“MOPRIM has developed unique AI technology to determine the transport mode of the user. The resulting data allows deeper understanding of people mobility, including the carbon footprint, and enables data-driven development of sustainable mobility,” says Petri Martikainen, CEO of MOPRIM.
The CitiCAP mobile app is available in Finland on Google Play and App Store, and its use is voluntary. The experiment will last at least until the end of 2020. The CitiCAP project has received funding from the EU’s Urban Innovative Actions initiative.
Urban mobility
