UC Berkeley XMobile FlexPass

This app is to be used by UC Berkeley C and F permit holders participating in the XMobile FlexPass research study.


*** App Intro *** For Spring 2015 Participants

What are the purposes of this study?
This is an academic research study conducted by UCBs Department of Parking & Transportation in collaboration with UCBs XMobile Lab . FlexPass Plus continues the successful FlexPass study conducted in Spring 2015 with 400 of our employee permit holders. This latest study offers participants the opportunity to earn rebates for not parking on campus plus the opportunity to set the price of the rebate.

We are testing a new rebate system for campus parking permit holders. Current research questions include:

Can we reduce on-campus parking demand and compensate permit holders at the same time by allowing them to sell their right to park?
Discovery of smart parking pricing strategies that improve parking availability and contribute to a greener campus.


This application is designed to collect information for a research study at the University of California, Berkeley. The study is being led by Prof. Raja Sengupta (PI) and his research group at the XMobile Lab. The goal of the study is to understand parking behavior and mode usage as people commute to campus. We will use this information to make recommendations for changes that improve parking usage on campus and reduce emissions.


The study is conducted by UCB’s Department of Parking & Transportation in collaboration with UCB’s XMobile Lab.

What does the app do?
FlexPass :
With your permission, the app will passively collect location data enabling the study team to discover parking shortages as they are happening, and find permit holders having to drive around looking for parking. The app will also prompt users to indicate their expected mode of travel for the next day. Users will be randomly chosen to receive rebates for working days on which you do not park on campus during the study period. The collected data is encrypted and secured in IST’s Cloud Computing Services. FlexPass Plus research participants will have the chance to "hypothetically" sell their parking spot in return for a rebate determined by a probabilistic risk/reward formula.


What will researchers do with the data?
Data will not be shared with your supervisor or work unit or any other party. It will be used solely for research aimed at improving campus transportation services as stated in the Informed Consent Form (https://gogreen.berkeley.edu/flexpass/register/informedconsentform)

We did our best to optimise the battery background performance of the app because continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. If you experience any battery issues running the app please contact us directly so that we help you resolve the issue.