What is the Ride Contest?

Take part in the month-long Ride Contest to track your transit trips, win prizes, earn badges, and compete against friends and for top leaderboard positions. The Ride Contest is a fun and casual way to participate in Transit Month and encourage people across the Bay Area to take more trips on public transit throughout September. In 2023, riders logged some 17,700 transit trips for a combined 87,000+ miles traveled on Bay Area transit!

After September ends, join us in San Francisco for our Rider First Award Ceremony on October 18, 2024. More details to come! The Ride Contest is organized by the San Francisco Transit Riders and Seamless Bay Area as part of Bay Area Transit Month.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why am I not getting a confirmation email when signing up?

Be sure to check your spam folder.

Can I log trips from a previous day? 

No. Trips can only be logged from the current day.

Do I have to log all categories when counting a trip?

The only thing you have to log is the transit agency of your trip. However, by entering Route, Start and End Location, and Purpose you’re able to earn many more badges and be entered to win many more prizes.

How do I earn prizes?

There are many ways to earn prizes and the full list can be found here: https://sftransitriders.org/ridecontest-prizes/. In general, taking more trips increases the likelihood of winning prizes! Each prize indicates how it will be delivered to winners. Prizes will either be shipped directed to winner’s mailing addresses or claimed at the Rider First Award Ceremony on October 18th at 375 Beale Street in San Francisco.

How do I earn badges?

A full list of badges can be viewed by clicking on the “See All Badges >>” in the “Badges Earned” section. When you click on a badge icon, pop-up text will appear explaining it’s earned.

What are the Weekly and Bonus Challenges?

Post weekly and bonus entries on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook using the hashtags #RideContest and #TransitMonth2024 for a chance for a tour of the Salesforce Transit Center Underground Trainbox – the future terminus of Caltrain and California High Speed Rail service in downtown San Francisco!

Each post for the Weekly and Bonus challenges will be an additional ‘ticket’ entry into the raffle. Weekly and Bonus Challenges can be found on the Transit Month 2024 Calendar, on the Ride Contest website, and will be shared on a weekly basis via email to Ride Contest signups.  

How do I earn Badges for the Transit to Trails Challenge?

We are only counting trails listed in this Transit to Trails Challenge document. You need to log the “end location” of your ride with the transit stops listed for each trail. This can be found in the description of each trail under “Transit Access.”

Why are transit operators listed separately in the leaderboards?

We exclude transit operators from the pool of potential prize winners because they can log rides all day – we want all people to have a fair chance at winning Ride Contest prizes. By having a separate leaderboard for transit operators, they can still log their rides, compete against each other, earn badges, and participate in the game.

Any other questions?

For any outstanding questions about the Ride Contest, please contact info@ridecontest.com.