Four Ways to Make Foursquare Awesome Along the Light Rail

Posted on 14. Jul, 2010 by Tony Arranaga in News

METRO Light Rail is now on Foursquare, the social media location-based game where people use their smartphones to ‘check-in’ and earn points at businesses or destinations. The points go toward becoming a ‘mayor’ of that particular location. Many businesses offer special discounts and deals for the mayor, although bragging rights amongst your friends are what make this a fun and popular social media game. METRO claimed each of the stations along the 20 mile starter line through Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa and allowing the transit agency to recognize or reward frequent users. See the post on METRO’s Facebook page here.

Turns out, Phoenix is not the first city to integrate Foursquare with public transit. According to the website Internet 2 Go, Bay Area Rapid Transit was ‘the first transit agency to partner with the location-based mobile network Foursquare, with the goal of encouraging public transit use.’ Many people might ask how will this encourage people to use public transit? “We hope this partnership will encourage them to check out different stations and neighborhoods,” says Timothy Moore, BART website manager, who says Foursquare ‘will show people who aren’t already BART riders some of the great things to do, that are easy to get to, on transit.”  The post on I2G also has some interesting facts and figures from a recent survey here.

How can METRO use foursquare to build awareness and reward people who use public transportation in Phoenix? Easy! Here are four ways METRO can make Foursquare totally awesome in the Valley of the Sun!

1) Create a badge METRO should encourage riders to check in on Foursquare by offering a special Foursquare badge to those who have the most check-ins. This will not only build station awareness, but also give riders something to brag about with friends.

2) Add a tip Encourage riders to ‘add a tip’ at each station, especially ones that promote some of your favorite local businesses at nearby stops.  For example, you could add a tip at the Roosevelt Station that reads something like: Cool off with an iced coffee from Fair Trade, located across the street from the Roosevelt station. This bit of information will help downtown newbies get a feel for what’s happening in our urban core.

3) Partner with local businesses METRO should partner up with nearby local businesses to offer up a discount to the mayor of each station. This will not only encourage people to ride, but will also get people to spend money in neighborhoods along the light rail.

4) Hold events at stations People can earn a ‘swarm’ badge when large groups of check in at one location at the same time. Once again, building station location awareness and giving users something to brag about.

Many people might ask what’s the point of all this? The way I see things, Foursquare will help encourage more people get out of their cars, take the light rail and help make using public transportation in Phoenix a fun experience!

UPDATE 1:

My list of Four Ways to Make Foursquare Awesome Along the Light Rail just turned into a list of three. METRO just informed me on Twitter that Foursquare says the platform no longer allows businesses to create badges.  :(