Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Colorado

Aspen Experiments With Paying People Not to Drive Downtown

Aspen commuters will be able to use an app to earn free products for trying sustainable commuting. Photo: Miles App

The Colorado resort city of Aspen is about to start bribing people not to drive downtown.

Next month, the Rocky Mountain enclave will being offering a range of rewards to commuters who shift from driving alone — a pilot program that hopes to reduce by 800 the number of cars driving into the congested city every day.

The city will begin a test phase next month with city employees. Participants will have to download and app called "Miles," according to the Aspen Times. The app contains sensors that can determine whether the user is driving alone, carpooling, riding a bike or taking the bus.

As users accumulate miles from their transit, bike or group commutes, they will become eligible for prizes from national and local businesses ranging from a $5 coffee card to a ski pass at the top end. The City has budgeted $20,000 for prizes during the initial two-month trial, targeting about 350 city employees, and $375,000 for the full year next year, when 750 commuters will hopefully sign up. About $200,000 will be spent on marketing and recruiting participants. The rest will be spent on prizes.

As part of the effort, the city is also spending $1.3 million to improve amenities and service to the Brush Creek Intercept Lot, a park-and-ride facility. More bus service, tables, chairs, food trucks and micro-transit will be included.

About 70 percent of the money spent on the program will be from parking fees and tickets. The other 30 percent will come from the city's general fund, the paper reports.

The program is an example of "Transportation Demand Management," which seeks to reduce driving — and the attendant costs, especially expensive parking infrastructure — by offering incentives to commuters to discourage solo car commuting.  Colleges and hospitals in a few locations around the U.S. have pioneered the strategy, though the most successful programs also use items like daily-parking payment to discourage driving as well.

But it remains rare for an entire city to roll out transportation demand management (it's far more common for urban areas to widen roads or add parking garages. Columbus' free bus pass for downtown workers is an example of citywide transportation demand management. New technology like the Miles app may allow cities to offer carrots to downtown employees to leave their cars at home.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Talking Headways Podcast: The Public Works Director for Democrats

U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen on the Trump administration's recent guidance for stripping sustainable projects of funding, and why he thinks active transportation advocates should focus on safety.

March 20, 2025

Trump, Republicans Make D.C. Ground Zero in Their War on Cities

The Trump administration is bullying D.C. — and other cities (looking at you, New York) could soon fall in the crosshairs, advocates say.

March 20, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines Won’t Pay For Themselves

The idea that transportation infrastructure should pay for itself is a conservative one, until it isn't.

March 20, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines Continue Resolving

There isn't much for transit in the continuing resolution Congress passed last week to fund the government for six months.

March 19, 2025

Is the Overnight Train A Luxury or a Necessity?

Before the advent of the car in the 1960s, sleeper trains were America's primary method of long-distance transportation — but today, it's more often seen as a luxury. Is it time for that to change? With the recent fear of air traveling, is the time for a sleeper train's comeback?

March 19, 2025
See all posts