ARPA-E hosted a workshop entitled “Transportation Behavior and New Technologies,” on Friday, March 16, 2012, in Berkeley, CA.

The workshop focused on new transportation technologies, such as alternative fuels and advanced power train vehicles that have the potential to achieve ARPA-E mission areas of reducing foreign imports and cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Acceptance and use of new technologies historically has been difficult to encourage outside of "early adopters." ARPA-E's mission includes directives to improve the performance of new technologies versus incumbents, and previous programs such as BEEST, Electrofuels, and PETRO have been developed to fund advances in the transportation sector.

This workshop explored approaches that combine behavioral economics, consumer marketing, recent technology advances (such as smartphones and social networking), and large-scale data processing and analysis to give consumers more options for their personal transportation decisions. Specifically, ARPA-E is interested in technology solutions which connect advanced transportation technologies to consumer behavior. The workshop highlighted existing consumer education and technology marketing efforts by industry and attendees will brainstorm new behavioral and technology concepts that will lead to more personalized, easy-to-use, and engaging solutions to help consumers make informed transportation decisions.

Information gained from the workshop will assist ARPA-E leadership in the development of potential funding programs targeting key technological roadblocks relevant to the ARPA-E mission.

View the Workshop Agenda (pdf).

ARPA-E Host and Administration

• Dr. Jonathan Burbaum, ARPA-E Program Director
• Dr. Cheryl Martin, ARPA-E Deputy Director for Commercialization

Speakers and Presentation

• Dr. Cheryl Martin, Deputy Director for Commercialization, ARPA-E: Introduction to ARPA-E (pdf)
• Dr. Jonathan Burbaum, Program Director, ARPA-E: Workshop Overview & Objectives (pdf)
• Dr. Noah Goldstein, Assistant Professor, UCLA
• Dr. Don Moore, Associate Professor, UC-Berkeley
• Dr. Jonathan Levav, Associate Professor, Stanford University
• Dr. Dan Ariely, Duke University: Behavioral Science and Transportation: Importance of Social Norms, Peer Pressure, Overconfidence, Default Choices, Reward Substitution, and More
• Dr. Tom Turrentine, Director, Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle Research Center at UC-Davis: Dealing with 100 Years of Tribal Knowledge (pdf)
• Dr. David Greene, Corporate Fellow, Oak Ridge National Laboratory: Alternative Fuels – What Have We Learned? (pdf)
• Dr. Carrie Armel, Research Associate, Stanford University: Stanford ARPA-E Sensor & Behavior Initiative (pdf)

Breakout Session Results

• Morning – Alternative Fuels (pdf)
• Morning – Vehicles (pdf)
• Afternoon – Alternative Fuels (pdf)
• Afternoon – Vehicles (pdf)

Summary

• Dr. Jonathan Burbaum, ARPA-E Program Director: Concluding Remarks (pdf)