Welcome to MoMo! Movilizando Monteverde

Community rides for a safe and sustainable Monteverde.  

MoMo is the outcome a three week Service Design class that took the studio all the way to Monteverde in Puntarenas and Guanacaste, Costa Rica. We started with inspiration from Corclima, a citizen movement working to lower emissions and adapt to climate change in Monteverde.

MoMo looks to spark the old custom of “rais” (rides) traditional in Monteverde and the collective purpose of preserving Monteverde green and safety as a catalyst of change. 

This iteration of MoMo is an “MVP” - a minimum viable product, one that could go out the door tomorrow with minimal investment in technology, leveraging existing channels of communication to maximize adoption. A strong base in which data and culture can accelerate more formal systems of mobility that serve the entire community a sustainable future.

We started with the brief of decreasing private vehicles and increasing intermodal transportation and focused on exploring spontaneous mobility for farther away locals. We co-created a concept that is inspired by the need for mobility of locals that nowadays live disconnected from the bustling centers full of activity and commodities usually resided by tourists and foreign residents.  

The defiant brand looks to stand out among the clutter of tourist signage. A flag, an active visual for people to recognize themselves as a community and bridge local towns into one another, using mobility as a catalyst for community. 

///  The service at a glance

JOIN. Locals who want to join fill out a Google form with personal details. Members pay 1,000 CRC to join.

VALIDATE. Community leaders validate new members from their area and invite them to join the group. The circle of trust can be extended through WhatsApp if there is a robust validation system.

ONBOARDING. Community guidelines cover all topic areas to make the space useful and safe for the community. 

WHATSAPP. In the group, riders and drivers actively offer, plan ahead, or spontaneously share their offers and asks. 

HITCHHIKE. You can also hitchhike in the street safely using the visual signs on the go (scarf, stickers, ID) 

APPRECIATION. Riders are encouraged to give what they can, guided by the cost of a bus ride. Exchange norms are stated in the guidelines and framed as a token of appreciation. 

///  Thoughts for the future 

Unpredictable self-organization

People who use the service are motivated by sustainable transit, they will self-organize in other unpredictable ways.  

Local adoption of community norms

Creating a formalized culture of acceptance of collective transportation will make it a community norm that all who pass through could also experience. 

Further Testing

Should the group be one large community or will there be value in creating smaller micro-communities?

What kinds of other conversations happen when a community is united around transit?

Will this system of safety and security work well?

If this has majority community support, what role do local businesses play?

What impact will this have on the local bus service?