Take a trip in time (and leap to action!) with TranspoBINGO

All aboard! It’s time for the annual TranspoBINGO tradition, and you’re invited to participate!

Join us for a week-long game from February 22–29 as we walk, roll, scoot, bike, and ride the bus and Metro to explore our amazing city. Mark as many squares as you can and challenge yourself to take different types of trips, discover our city and its public spaces, and support and advocate for public and active transportation and public spaces along the way.

TranspoBINGO is a game and advocacy tool that encourages our elected leaders and agency representatives, as well as residents across DC, to stretch their use of people-powered modes of transportation. Throughout the week, players experience what works and what doesn’t, and use those experiences to advocate for public and active transportation and public spaces. This year we’re taking a trip in time to honor our transportation heroes and all they’ve accomplished, while also making a leap to push for equitable, inclusive, and accessible public and active transportation and public spaces.

TranspoBINGO boards will go live on February 21 (we’ll update this article at that time), and you will be able to find them and detailed instructions here. Players who are online are encouraged to share their adventures with the hashtag #TranspoBINGO on all social media. Players who are not online can find TranspoBINGO boards in various public locations or contact us for a board to complete.

While the game is designed for DC, you can play from anywhere with slight modifications! We’ve had friends join us from Maryland and Virginia, as well as across the country, and even from other countries.

The TranspoBINGO origin story

TranspoBINGO was first played in February of 2020, with the goal of getting more people to commit to traveling via public and active transportation over the course of a week. We were looking for a sustained commitment from our elected officials and dedication to truly experiencing the strengths and weaknesses of our transportation networks the way residents do on a daily basis. As we know, many who rely on non-car travel, like Metrobus, are low-income and people of color.

Covid-19 brought changes to the game, including expanding the scope to include the exploration of our public spaces like parks and libraries, universal design and accessibility - including through public benches, and even taking advantage of public health resources. While our public health landscape has shifted, the importance of our public spaces has not. In 2022 and 2023, we expanded the game further with different lenses on transportation equity and what it means.

Honoring our transportation heroes

Now in our fifth year, this year’s game strives to honor our transportation heroes and all the strides we’ve made toward a robust and reliable public and active transportation network. TranspoBINGO was originally inspired by Rosa Parks and Transit Equity Day, which is observed every Black History Month. And we want to expand our knowledge of all those heroes who have contributed, as well as learn more about the history of our transportation networks and public spaces.

Do you recognize the amazing transportation heroes on our three different TranspoBINGO boards? A. Philip Randolph was a transit labor union icon, Kittie Knox was a sensational bike advocate, and of course, Rosa Parks is one of the best-known transportation heroes in U.S. history.

While our transportation heroes have made great strides, we know that there’s more work to be done. That’s why we’re continuing to advocate for more and better with this year’s TranspoBINGO. So shout out our wins, whether that’s 24-hour bus service, expanding electric options that are more sustainable, or record high bikeshare usage. And demand better, too, whether that’s advocating for better and more reliable service, fighting for traffic safety infrastructure in underserved communities, or making our public transportation and public spaces more accessible.

TranspoBINGO is designed to meet players where they are, and specifically to be harder for our elected officials and those who make decisions about our public and active transportation and public spaces. As you play the game, you’ll be able to highlight transportation and public space inequities and to advocate for improvements.

• If you’re new to the game or if you live, work, or play in a place with limited transit options or other challenges, try out a square that is easier or seems fun, and share what worked or didn’t work. Your experiences are crucial to showing what needs to improve.
• If you’re an expert or a repeat player, go all out with your squares, stretch how you use and think about active transportation, be a thorn in our elected officials’ sides, and encourage others to play.
• And if you’re an elected official, agency representative, or someone else who makes active transportation decisions and policy, mark as many squares as you can and challenge yourself to experience public transportation in all the ways residents rely on it, including the ways it can and should work better.

TranspoBINGO continues to give players the chance to shake up their routines and explore our amazing city, providing incentives to visit new places, try new ways of moving around the region, and gain the sense of accomplishment that only a big checkmark can provide.

As you play, we invite you to consider some of the following questions:

• Which trip was the most challenging? Why?
• Which trip was the most fun? Why?
• How easy would it be to make this trip on a regular basis? And were there some trips that were just too hard to make? Why?
• Would you feel safe taking this trip regularly? Why or why not?
• Would it be convenient to take this trip this way regularly? Why or why not?
• What did you learn about a new-to-you way to travel by public or active transportation or a new-to-you public space?

Most of all, we want you to have fun and experience the joy of public and active transportation and public spaces! Some of our best squares highlight creativity, and the WMATA General Manager makes regular appearances - both real and artistic. And don’t forget to join us to share your experiences, meet players, and collect prizes (for all kinds of categories and not just most squares checked) on February 29, starting at 6:00 pm at Metrobar (640 Rhode Island Avenue, NE).

Ready to play? The new card will drop on February 21 (and we’ll update this article at that time). Stay up to date here.

We are grateful to our returning sponsors, Greater Greater Washington and the Coalition for Smarter Growth, and we are so excited to have new sponsors this year, Black Women Bike DC and the Ward 8 Bike Alliance. TranspoBINGO wouldn’t exist without inspiration from Action Committee for Transit, a group in Montgomery County that challenged their elected officials to use only public and active transportation for a week.