Miami app rewards commuters for adopting shared transit

In a bid to tackle its growing traffic problem, Miami-Dade County has announced an app that rewards commuters for multimodal transit use in its cities.

The county’s Department of Transportation and Public Works has partnered with Velocia, a mobility rewards platform, to encourage commuters to adopt a variety of transportation options to gain redeemable awards. These include public transit, car-sharing, bike- and scooter-sharing, carpooling and even walking.

Mobility ecosystem

The rewards are earned in the form of ‘Velos’ which can then be redeemed within the Velocia mobility ecosystem, providing users with immediate discounts on available transportation services.

“This public-private model for urban transportation allows us to leverage a mobility ecosystem already in existence to create an infrastructure-light solution that rewards people for breaking the habit of travelling in cars with just one occupant,” said Carlos Gimenez, mayor of Miami-Dade County.

“The county’s partnership with Velocia goes to the heart of our mission to reduce gridlock across our roads while creating a healthier, more sustainable community for everyone who lives and works here,” he added.

Enabling growth

According to Miami-Dade County, the partnership comes at a pivotal time in the region’s growth. Miami’s economy and urban development is booming and its capacity for new business development is being pushed to the limits due to gridlock.

Compared to other leading global cities in the US like New York and San Francisco, Miami remains more heavily dependent on the car. Among large metropolitan areas in the US, Greater Miami ranks 12^th in terms of the worst traffic in the nation – this is estimated to cost the metro region roughly $4 billion in lost economic output annually.

“Our mission is to bring the different players together and help get people out of traffic, by incentivising commuters to try new, efficient and fun ways to get around their city."

In South Florida, Velocia’s list of partners on the platform include Miami-Dade Metrobus and Metrorail, Bolt e-scooters, Citi Bike bike-sharing, Getaround peer-to-peer (P2P) car-sharing, and SwiftSeat P2P Carpooling.

Velocia said Dashee Scooters will also be joining the platform. Users can redeem their Velos for discounts in all of the partner apps, as well as for Lyft and Uber ride-sharing credits.

“Miami is set up with some of the best mobility and active transportation options available in North America. Our mission is to bring the different players together and help get people out of traffic, by incentivising commuters to try new, efficient and fun ways to get around their city, instead of relying on single-occupant vehicles,” added David Winterstein, CEO, Velocia.

He added: “Of course, the ecosystem would not be fully complete without Miami-Dade public transit on the platform. We are extremely excited to continue to grow Velocia in South Florida and work with Miami-Dade County to demonstrate how the public and private sector can innovate together to help solve complex traffic problems in cities.”

You might also like:

• In-app ticketing comes to Denver metro area
• Uber riders in Denver set to be the first to use integrated transit app
• Mobility app aims to cut the US carbon footprint