Now the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is turning to the ubiquitous programs to help Texans drive more economically, more safely and help improve the state’s environment.
Available at Roadcents.org, it is a free web app recently relaunched by TxDOT that helps users calculate driving costs, save gas, track maintenance with emails, find gas stations and repair facilities and get roadside safety tips.
“With this app, you get gas savings tips that can help cut gas costs and also tailpipe emissions,” said Gene Powell, public information officer for TxDOT in Midland and Odessa.
One of the main goals of the app, which was recently reintroduced during a spring break in Corpus Christi is to “improve the efficiency of vehicles,” Powell said.
Roadcents is offered as part of the department’s Drive Clean Texas campaign, and officials said the timing of the release is because spring and summer, with their warmer weather, are when traffic increases and ozone levels can spike. In major metropolitan areas like Dallas and Houston, where air quality is a concern, if the app can prompt drivers to take better care of their vehicles and improve efficiency and emissions, that’s a benefit, he said.
Midland and Odessa, with its smaller population and lighter traffic — not to mention plentiful winds — doesn’t have air quality concerns, he said. “But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do all we can to reduce emissions,” he said.
Another benefit of the app is that it can help drivers save money, he said.
“If you do routine maintenance on your vehicle, it can improve gas mileage and make your car run better,” Powell said.
There are several ways the app can help drivers save money.
One way is users can create an account that can help them calculate the annual costs to operate a vehicle.
The app also offers tips for saving money by reminding drivers to drive the speed limit, avoid rapid stops and starts and conducting routine maintenance.
Roadcents breaks down how the driver of a best-selling pick-up truck, which costs $2.909 a year to operate, can save money by following the app’s suggestions:
-- Keeping tires properly inflated: $70
-- Removing excess weight: $42
-- Driving the speed limit: $297
-- Using recommended motor oils: $21
-- Removing the cargo rack: $245
-- Avoiding rapid starts and stops: $106
-- Total savings: $781
Users of the app can also receive email reminders about routine maintenance such as oil changes, regular tire pressure checks and other reminders based on the manufacturer’s recommended schedule. They can also use their accounts to track such routine maintenance.
Powell said the recommendations are all common-sense suggestions that people tend to overlook amid their busy daily routines.
He cited the old advertising slogan: “Pay me now or pay me later. Preventive maintenance is always best in the long run.”
Powell also pointed out that routine maintenance can lessen the risk of accidents resulting from blow-outs or other maintenance-related failures.
“Safety is one of our priorities — that and keeping the environment safe. Keeping a car maintained can keep it safe while on the road. No one wants to be in an accident because of negligence,” he said.
With Texans preparing for summer vacation, the app can serve as a pre-travel check list, he added.
While on the road, users can locate gas stations or repair facilities and receive tips on what to do if a vehicle breaks down, such as jump-starting a battery or what to do if headlights fail and where to find a tow truck. There are also tips on what to do in the event of a crash.
©2015 the Midland Reporter-Telegram (Midland, Texas) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
