CTrides

Encouraging people to use alternative means of transportation is commendable when done right. However, CTrides has only pushed me closer to getting a car. As a European, I always seek out public transportation when possible. However, since moving to a more suburban location, it became harder than usual - the closest bus stop to me is a 40-minute walk away, while the majority of sidewalks do not have pedestrian crossings between them. I thought I would be encouraged to use my bicycle more (a terribly dangerous activity in Connecticut, since none of the bike routes are separated from the main road!), but every time I earn enough points for using alternative transportation, I am rewarded with a CHANCE to win a prize. Every time I lose my hard-earned points, I get more and more discouraged from using the app and more and more disappointed in Connecticut’s public transportation. Now, regarding the app itself. Recording rides is inconvenient; the UI was not properly tested by people outside the organization. Ride-share options never appear, so that part of the app is useless. And lastly, Google Maps is mostly better at creating a public transportation route than this app. The badge system is fun, better reward-wise than the raffle. The app doesn't have too many distractions or extra tabs, so that’s good. And lastly, its presence on my phone is encouraging me to use public transportation. As a person who works with similar initiatives, I would recommend changing prizes to free event tickets (a user is encouraged to use public transportation to get to a free event that they won through using a public transportation), gift cards from local Connecticut brands (NOT a raffle, a for sure win), and Connecticut-themed merch (a West Hartford blanket, a Windsor plate, a Yale sweatshirt). Instead of a raffle system, create a leaderboard with the top 10 (20, 50, 100, whatever the budget is) participants receiving a gift. Again, the initiative is great, but your focus is not there, and Connecticut public transportation is not yet ready to accommodate people.

The navigation is fine but if I can enter the reward drawing 20 times just let me enter how many tickets I want instead of making me go through the process twenty times. Stop asking if I want notifications, I don’t. I said I don’t. I selected no notifications in the settings- can I be more explicit? No means no.