Transit GO is an interesting and mostly functional mobile app that allows riders to pay for transit tickets on their phones while also gamifying the transit riding experience. And now scooter and bike share services are now part of the game, too.
The app is only for people paying full price for transit as they go, so it’s not really useful for folks who have a monthly or discount ORCA pass. But if you pay as you go, like I do, then it may be worth checking out. It’s not as convenient as an ORCA card with autoload because you have to buy tickets individually based on zones or light rail distance. But it has a trick up its sleeve: Rewards.
As you ride, you earn reward points that you can spend on more transit tickets or free scooter and bike share time. You earn 125 points for taking a train or bus ride, for example, and the bike and scooter share rewards cost 280-300 points. So every three or so transit rides get you a discounted scooter or bike share ride. There is also an ever-changing list of bonus reward options to juice your rewards balance further. You also get 800 points just for joining, so that alone is probably worth signing up.
Meanwhile, you can get up to $8 in ride credit or discounts per week for Lime, LINK, Bird or Veo thanks to the Bike & Scoot to Transit program running through March 31. You just need to end a ride within one of these “discount parking zones” near transit stops:
So if you string together the weekly discount parking zone credit and the Transit GO rewards, you can start making a dent in the cost of scooter and bike share services. However, it will take a bit of work to navigate all the apps and track all the rewards.
Share your experiences with Transit GO or the Bike & Scoot to Transit program in the comments below.
More details on the new micromobility parking areas from Sound Transit:
Sound Transit and SDOT have developed a micromobility parking pilot consisting of 13 physically marked and/or in-app designated parking sites at seven Sound Transit Link light rail station areas: Northgate, SODO, Beacon Hill, Mount Baker, Columbia City, Othello and Rainier Beach.
The parking pilot aims to coincide with the rollout of the Bike and Scoot to Transit Pilot so that when people take bikes or scooters to Link stations, there are convenient and well-indicated locations to park them.
All 13 parking sites are identified as preferred parking locations via a pinpoint “P” symbol within the micromobility vendor apps.
Meanwhile, seven sites are physically marked using reflective tape and “Scooter and Bike Share Parking” signs zip-tied to poles or staked into nearby planters.
The other six sites are only identified in the micromobility vendor apps.
Comments
One response to “Transit GO app now includes scooter and bike share rewards + Use new micromobility parking areas to get ride discounts”
Some of these locations are bizarre. We want people to drop off bikes at the Olson/Meyers P&R? Correct me if I’m wrong but there’s not really a good way to bike there from just about anywhere. Even Northgate. If we want people using bikeshare as a last-mile connection because we stuck the station between a freeway and a dead mall, well… a reward program doesn’t change the fact that the bike network around there is still pretty bad! Even after building a big expensive bridge and like one north-south path along the freeway, if you’re going to a destination in Northgate on a bike it’s probably an unpleasant trip.