Last Updated: 8/27/2025

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 2024, riders logged some 18,500 transit trips for a combined 105,600 miles traveled on Bay Area transit!

After September ends, join us in San Francisco for our Rider First Award Ceremony on October 10th at 375 Beale Street, San Francisco. 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 the 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 in October. More details to come!

How do I earn badges?

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

How do I win the Grand Prize of the Salesforce Transit Center Trainbox Tour?

Rules: Use the hashtag #TransitMonth2025 on Instagram, Twitter, BlueSky, Facebook, Mastodon, Threads, and LinkedIn throughout September and the people with the best posts will be invited to the tour! Your post can be about anything Transit Month or public transit related! This includes attending a Transit Month event, how you're doing in the Ride Contest, transit-related media or art you've created, etc. Posts that disappear (such as Instagram stories) and are published on private accounts are not eligible as we need to be able to find them by the end of September.

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.