GoCarma 4+

App constantly bugs me for Always On GPS location

I certainly would prefer to never have to even need an app for HOV toll discounts or pay these ridiculous tolls at all.

But the app does give me discounts. My only complaint is that it is always in your face about Always On GPS tracking. Seems unnecessary to need it on all the time and when I decline to constantly nag me to switch it to Always On. Annoying

If it ain’t broke...

Not only is it incredibly inconvenient to have the app “always allow” location, which has made my phone battery die faster, but having to use the GoCarma sensors is so unnecessary.

The claim that people would forget to set their HOV before traveling as a reason to switch to this is absurd. It was so much easier to set a weekly schedule instead. Not to mention that if you travel with children that don’t have smart phones, having to order an occupant pass for them feels like an invasion of their privacy. The toll tag was enough personal information. Now we have to have physical passes for each person traveling in the car? Certainly not environmentally friendly, private, or convenient.

This feels like an unnecessary invasion of privacy, as well as unfriendly to the environment with the physical passes required. Users should have the same options to set a schedule, as well as opt out of the “always on” location and add children to the account so there’s no physical piece required.

Developer Response ,

Hi crlnprchn - Thank you for taking the time to submit a review. We review user feedback each day as a product team, so it really helps us to plan our next product updates.

There should be no / minimal impact on your battery. The app very rarely uses GPS - the "Always Allow" permission is required to enable iBeacon / Bluetooth Low Energy detection of when you're in the car. This is part of the "Location Services" permission on iOS, and it enables the app to report "In Car" status even when you don't have the app open.

One of the downsides of people pre-activating their HOV status with the previous app is that it led to some people activating HOV status even for non-HOV trips. This is a violation of HOV discount policy and has the negative impact of increase toll prices for all road users. It was also a very common problem that people would forget to set their HOV status in advance of the trip.

You don't need to have a physical pass for each person in the car. You need a GoCarma Pass for each car. Most users simply need the app on their phone. However, those who travel in TEXpress Lanes with children can also request an Occupant Pass. These passes do not collect any data - they simply transmit a Bluetooth identifier (number) that enables the app to know when you're in the car.

We'd be happy to talk through your concerns further if you send us a message in the GoCarma app, and thank you again for taking the time to send your feedback - we really appreciate it.

GoCarma is a joke

The claim is that GoCarma will allow you to get HOV discounts. But that's a joke, because they make it next to impossible to get things set up, even for people such as myself who are quite tech-savvy. Heaven forbid my grandparents try to set it up.

The Occupant Passes are even more of a joke. Nowhere in the app is there even an option to set up the OP that I ordered and received for my child, as directed by the instructions that came with the device. This is completely absurd! Why would you deploy an utterly faulty product that your software doesn't even support? Why is your documentation not more straight forward?

It's like GoCarma is doing lip service claiming to provide discounts, but they do everything in their power to make it next to impossible to actually GET the discount.

Developer Response ,

Hi redfishperson. You can set up the Occupant Pass by simply tapping on the Menu and selecting "Occupant Passes". I understand from your conversation with our Support team that you were accidentally logged into another account which did not request the Occupant Pass. I trust that you were able to log in to the original account you created and to activate the Occupant Pass successfully. If not, please send us another message in the app and we'll be happy to help further.