RIDE Solutions App Now Better than Ever

Beginning in 2019, RIDE Solutions achieved a revolutionary milestone when the TDM (Transportation Demand Management) organization launched its new app, powered by Agile Mile.  In addition to enabling users to earn points toward rewards whenever a green trip was logged either by biking, walking, vanpooling, using transit, or teleworking, the app instantly matched members who wanted to carpool – replacing a formerly cumbersome process which required RIDE Solutions administrators to manually match members.

You might have thought, “Well, it can’t get any better than that.” But you’d be wrong, because it has.

The RIDE Solutions app, when originally conceived, emphasized commuting, as well as student travel to and from school, if carpooling.  However, that has all changed.  When searching for a ride, the app now also features other trips including those “For a single trip (shopping, doctor, etc.),” and “To an event or destination,” as well as “For my commute (to work or school).” So whatever green travel mode you choose, you’ll earn point for your trip to go shopping, the doctor, or another visit.

The other new category, “To an event or destination,” includes a number of popular destinations in each of the RIDE Solutions sub-areas.  The two events in the West Piedmont Planning District for which users can earn points through the app include the Rooster Walk music festival and FloydFest.  The featured destinations in our region for which members will earn points when logging green travel trips include the following:

  • Danville Braves Stadium
  • Danville River District
  • Fairystone State Park
  • Harvester Performance Center
  • Martinsville Mustangs Stadium
  • Martinsville Speedway
  • Someplace else

               

       Left:  Harvester Performance Center, Rocky Mount

Center:  North Main Street, Danville’s River District

Right:  Virginia Museum of Natural History, Martinsville

 

The RIDE Solutions app now includes great new features to enhance convenience for our users as well.  Arguably the most significant of these is the incorporation of Google Transit into the app.  If a user plans to travel to a certain destination, for example, any applicable transit routes will be shown in the app after the origin and destination are entered.  Additionally, when the transit icon is selected, the schedule and trip duration are shown.  This feature is currently available for Danville Transit, but is planned to be incorporated for Piedmont Area Regional Transit (PART) at a future time, once that agency’s routes are added to Google Transit.  In addition to the integration of this new transit feature, the app will now generate the best biking or walking routes for your trip.

Other great features include the ability to display park and ride facilities, bike share locations, car share locations, electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, traffic conditions in real time, and locations of bike paths.  An additional feature provided through this app is the ability to compare the amount of money saved and the amount of carbon dioxide emitted among various travel modes.

If you currently telework, walk, bike, take transit, or carpool to work or other trips, or you would like to, you’ll earn rewards for each trip you log into the RIDE Solutions app for discounts on food, shopping, and other participating services and entertainment venues.  If you have not yet downloaded this powerful app, just go to www.ridesolutions.org, and after just a few clicks you’ll be ready to go!

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