As of Thursday 22 February, the carpooling incentives promoted by the City of Lugano as part of the MixMyRide experimental project will double in value to LVGA 30 (CHF 0.30) for every kilometre travelled by carpooling. This will allow SUPSI researchers to fully explore the role of financial incentives in the use of means of transport other than the car, including carpooling. The incentives, provided in LVGA, will be awarded until the end of April to those who offer carpooling rides via the MixMyRide app and will allow passengers to carpool for free, while supporting the local economy.
The carpooling incentive programme is part of MixMyRide, a research project funded by the Federal Office of Energy that has developed a smartphone app with which to plan and book journeys combining public transport with carpooling and active mobility (walking and cycling). The trial of the MixMyRide app, which started in spring 2023, is running simultaneously in Ticino, Winterthur-Zurich and Geneva: the app is available free of charge to anyone who lives, studies or works in these three areas.
In the first six months of the trial, data was collected on the use of MixMyRide without incentives. Since autumn 2023, carpooling incentives have been introduced in LVGA, offered by the City of Lugano. For the last three months of the trial, the amount offered per carpool kilometre is doubled: until 30 April 2024, carpool drivers receive LVGA 30 for every carpool kilometre driven with MixMyRide. "The data collected in these three phases of the trial in daily life allow us to understand whether and under which conditions the MixMyRide system can work effectively. Those who use the app in these final months will gain an important individual economic benefit, while also contributing to a nationwide research project," indicates Francesca Cellina, the SUPSI researcher coordinating the project.
With its participation in the MixMyRide project, the City of Lugano confirms its commitment to urban mobility and the reduction of its environmental and climate impacts, in implementation of the ambitious directives defined in the 2018-2028 strategic plan. A partner in the project through the Lugano Living Lab, in autumn 2023 the City had made available a total of LVGA 500,000, equal to CHF 5,000, for carpooling incentives through MixMyRide. The incentives will be allocated for a maximum of LVGA 15,000 (CHF 150) per person over the course of the entire trial, via the MyLugano app. "LVGAs are a real digital currency, accepted in a circuit of more than 400 businesses in our territory. The updated list is available on the MyLugano website,' explains Joy Bordini, collaborator of Lugano Living Lab.
The MixMyRide app and all details of the incentives are available on the project website. "I renew my thanks to the executive of the City of Lugano for the decision to support carpooling through MixMyRide and I invite everyone to experience the benefits of MixMyRide, now even more attractive thanks to the doubling of the economic incentive for those who offer carpooling rides," concludes project partner Mirko Baruffini of BePooler.