Doesn’t let you pay for rides
(Nevermind that where you travel is, by definition, likely to vary day by day. Doesn’t matter. You’re still required to provide that information, or else it won’t let you do anything.)
And even after you’ve given in and provided all of that info (or made up answers to get by), it doesn’t actually let you pay for rides. That was the entire reason I downloaded the “official CT transit app.” I don’t wanna need to have the exact change-amount in quarters every time I ride the bus. Without that, the entire point of the app is moot. I’d rate this a zero if I could.
Good idea, bad execution
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.
Response from developer
Thank you very much for your feedback. We're the app developers so we can't address your concerns about transit and biking in CT. Regarding the rewards, we have a very small budget for incentives and are unable to provide rewards to all participants, which is why we do drawings. Regarding your comment that ride-share options do not appear, I'm not exactly sure what you're referring to since users can record carpool and vanpool trips today. If you're referring to Uber or Lyft, we don't track those trips today since we consider those to be taxi rides. We also really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts. If you'd like to discuss your ideas in more detail, please select More -> Contact us to contact our support team and ask them to forward your inquiry to Rick (I lead the iOS app development and would value hearing more of your feedback). Thank you.
Slow
Response from developer
We're very sorry about the notification question re-appearing. There was a bug in the code which will be fixed in the next version. We're also sorry that the drawing entry is tedious. We will streamline this in a future release. Thanks for sharing your feedback.
Rewards unavailable
Response from developer
We're sorry this happened. Some times there are no rewards on the last day of the month as we prepare new rewards for the upcoming month. It appears you visited the rewards on June 30th and this happened. Please check again, the rewards section is not empty any more.
Very Clunky
Response from developer
We're very sorry you're having trouble. We recently updated a few security items that might have caused your problem. If you can, please log out and log in one more time and hopefully this will keep you logged in. If the problem persists, please contact support by selecting More -> Contact us and we'll look into it further. Thank you.
