When 2020 began, MoGo was set to move forward with an ambitious year that included expanding to 6 new service areas in 6 different cities, growing community partnerships through Rider Perks and events, and so much more.
By mid-March, those plans seemed like they would be upended as quarantine began and the coronavirus spread.
Operating amidst a national social movement, a landmark election season, and with a global pandemic taking over our daily lives, MoGo was able to adapt. And, with the support of our riders, partners, sponsors, and more, we were able to make 2020 a landmark year for bikeshare in Metro Detroit.
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While many people were sheltered-in after lockdowns began in March, essential workers and others still needed reliable transit options to get from place to place. As an open-air transit system, MoGo felt it was imperative to not only continue offering our services, but to make bikeshare more accessible to those who needed it most. MoGo responded by adding thorough cleaning and sanitization practices to our regular station visits, and offered free Monthly Passes to all riders for 2 months.
In April and May, MoGo continued our push to provide free Monthly Passes to essential workers and other riders, while keeping our social media updated with the best practices for riding safely during the pandemic. As our original expansion date came and went, we began working on a different approach to our entire expansion process.
June brought with it pass and pricing changes, a national movement, MoGo’s expansion, and an e-bike program for essential workers. Our launch was different than originally planned, for obvious reasons; rather than one big event, MoGo released an expansion video, and traveled to each city to do live-streams at newly-installed MoGo stations. Although direct community engagement was limited, riders in our expansion area started riding immediately after our expansion – a sign that Metro Detroit is ready to embrace bikeshare the way that Detroit has!
The summer brought warm weather, increased COVID awareness, and more reasons to ride. In July, MoGo held the Move With MoGo Rider Challenge, which encouraged riders to take as many rides as they could between MoGo’s 31 new expansion stations for a chance to win passes and other prizes. Over 3 weeks, 12 of our hundreds of riders were declared winners!
For three weeks in August, MoGo participated in farmers markets in Oak Park and Palmer Park. Due to the pandemic, this was the most in-person engagement that MoGo was able to offer in our expansion areas during our first season of operation.
As September began, so did the Adaptive MoGo program. All 13 adaptive cycles were available for reservation three days per week, and in an effort to reduce the barrier to use, MoGo extended all adaptive member passes for another year, and made single trip rides free (with just a $5 deposit to hold reservations).The program surpassed many expectations for the shortened season. There were more than 20 brand new riders in just two months, and it had the highest single-day ride total in the adaptive program’s three-year history
October brought three new Rider Perks partners, topping MoGo off at 10 new Rider Perks in 2020, which nearly doubled our existing Rider Perks partners overall. As of this post, MoGo’s Rider Perks program includes businesses in three of our six expansion areas, all of which were added during the pandemic.
Heading into November, MoGo started releasing news on our Roll to the Polls campaign, which offered free rides to the polls on Election Day. Through a few community rides and live-streams from various polling locations, MoGo helped countless riders cast their vote before and on Election Day. Later in the month, MoGo dedicated a full week to our Rider Perks partners, doing our best to promote small businesses during such a difficult time.
December has brought us a vaccine, a different type of holiday spirit, and MoGo’s Light Bike, located at Beacon Park.
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In a world-changing year, MoGo was able to be successful because you kept riding. We were empowered by all of the testimonials from our featured riders, the dozens of times that we were tagged, mentioned, or featured on riders’ social media, and the fact that 28 percent of MoGo members are Access Pass holders.
With all that said, we’d like to thank you, Metro Detroit, for a successful year of bikeshare. Here’s to many more years of riding with a lot less social distancing.
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Thank you to the cities of Detroit, Ferndale, Huntington Woods, Oak Park, Royal Oak, and Berkley, their governments, and residents for welcoming MoGo into your communities, and thank you to our in-kind sponsors, VMLY&R and Deloitte, for donating time and resources throughout 2020.
Thank you to our title sponsors, Henry Ford Health System and HAP, our Adaptive partners, PEAC and Wheelhouse Detroit, and our Adaptive sponsors, Dalmac and the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation.
Thank you to our partners, MDOT, SEMCOG, Downtown Detroit Partnership, City of Detroit, Shift Transit, DDOT, and PBSC Urban Solutions, our station sponsors, Wayne State University, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Invest Detroit, The Villages Detroit, The Roxbury Group, and The Rattlesnake Club, and our supporters, the Hudson Webber Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, and the Knight Foundation.
Cheers to a safe, prosperous, and healthy 2021!
