The objective of this project was to use real-time data to gamify redistributing bikes, in order to reduce the footprint of manual redistribution with large vehicles.

This began as a hackathon project for the NYC BigApps Challenge, where I applied gamification to address the persistent problem of CitiBike redistribution. The core idea: incentivize riders to naturally rebalance the system by earning loyalty points for certain actions—like taking a bike from an overcrowded station or docking one at an underused location.

My motivation came from personal experience as a frequent CitiBike rider. I often encountered frustrating situations: arriving at a station with no bikes, finding full docks with no place to return one, or discovering the only available bike was broken. These experiences highlighted how dependent the system was on manual van-based redistribution—ironically undercutting CitiBike’s environmental mission.

Here’s the original gamification model I developed:

• Ride a CitiBike – 2 pts
• Report a faulty bike in the app – 5 pts
• Upload a photo of the damage – 3 pts
• Take a bike from a full station – 7 pts
• Dock a bike at an empty station – 10 pts
• Bonus: Health data tracking using your phone’s accelerometer to estimate calories burned, especially for uphill rides.