HERO2

I started HERO2 because I was the user. I biked everywhere at Berkeley, graduated, and became car-dependent. As the HERO2 site puts it: “The exact end user: an avid biker turned car-dependent after graduating from Berkeley.”

The idea is simple. Asking people to drive less for the planet’s sake hasn’t worked. I wrote it in our first Big Ideas application: “Altruism has not motivated us, as a nation, to drive less and reduce our carbon emissions.” So HERO2 rewards the trip instead of lecturing about it. You move, the app picks up each leg on its own, you earn Power, and you redeem it with neighborhood businesses that want you walking through their door.

Where it is now

HERO2 is live on the App Store in early access. We started with small tests with real users in Berkeley and built from what we learned.