Crowdfunded Transport Projects
Crowdfunding is using the internet to collect funds for a project. Crowdfunding has been used for many transport projects and although it’s probably not possible to crowdfund a light rail line, it’s certainly possible to fund smaller projects like bus shelters or even bike lanes. This page presents examples of crowdsourced sustainable transport projects.
Remember: crowdfunding is not just about the money – it’s about building a community of support. For Denver’s bike lane (below), crowdfunding provided a portion of the funding, most of the money was provided by others based on the community support shown by the crowdfunding project.
Examples of Crowdfunded Transport Projects
Trick Out My Trip
ioby and Transit Center sponsored a project to crowdfund projects around public transport stops. Many of the projects were multimodal and all were supported by their communities. Transit Center provided matching funding for the projects. Here’s the report: Trick Out My Trip 2016!
Love Shack Kickstarter project to build a bus shelter in Athens GA.
Love Shack Bus Shelter
The Love Shack bus shelter project is an early example of a transport project funded in Kickstarter in Athens, Georgia. Kickstarter screenshot illustrated at the right.
Denver Bike Lane Project
- Denver Bike Lane Crowdsourcing Project – Next City
- Six tips from the Denver bike lane crowdsourcing campaign – Streetsblog
Flowers & Such: Boston Bike Lanes
Jonathan is an architect and bike rider working to increase safety of pedestrians and cyclists. He has a crowdfunding project called Flowers & Such: Boston Bike Lanes on GoFundMe. So far he’s raised about $7,000 for flowers and cones to create interventions on the Mass Ave corridor, the most dangerous stretch of road in Boston.
Boston MBTA 2015 crowdfunding proposal on GoFundMe
MBTA – Boston Transport System
An important reason for this project was to call attention to the huge amount of money needed to rehabilitate and improve Boston’s public transport network.
- MBTA Crowdfunding – Crowdfund Insider
- MBTA Crowdfunding – The Works – Next City
References: Crowdfunded Transport Projects
TBA
Blog Posts: Crowdfunded Transport Projects
MetroQuest Collaboration Application
MetroQuest is an application that provides a suite of tools that can be used to improve the public participation process. The tools support all three types of collaboration: engagement, education and process. It’s been used for many transport projects including Toronto’s Big Move 25-year transportation plan.
Transit App adds Real Time Information
The Transit App can now collect tracking data from users to help them predict real time arrival information. This is an excellent tool especially in cities where there is no current real time data available. It’s also quite helpful because it can be more accurate than vehicle GPS signals since these signals may only be sent […]
Making Sense Project
The Making Sense project is funded by the European Commission and has the mission to make advances and experiments in participatory sensing. According to making-sense.eu Making Sense aims to explore how open source software, open source hardware, digital maker practices and open design can be effectively used by local communities to fabricate their own sensing tools, […]
City Swipe – Santa Monica Downtown
City Swipe is a Tinder-like application designed to collect input on what people like and dislike about downtown Santa Monica (California). It’s really simple to use and therefore good for collecting lots of input. Here are the instructions from the project website: www.dtsmcityswipe.com HERE’S HOW IT WORKS Each slide will show an image and a […]