Passenger Transport 2010 APTA Annual Meeting - 34

2010 Annual Meeting
his summer, Cincinnati Metro embraced APTA’s Public Transportation Takes Us There advocacy campaign and showcased its messages in advertising, grassroots marketing, and public relations efforts.

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Cincinnati Metro Connects with Its Community
had one thing in common: the difference Metro made in their lives. The top winners will be featured in Metro’s advertising this fall. Metro promoted the contest and related activities via social media, primarily Facebook and Twitter. Its Facebook page gained more than 200 fans, and its Twitter account added more than 400 followers in 2010. shelter advertising reflecting the same message, as well as print, radio, television, and online ads. “Our multi-media campaign generated a lot of awareness of the benefits of public transportation among riders and non-riders, and helped drive entries in the ‘Tell Us Your Story’ contest,” said Dave Etienne, Metro’s marketing director. Using APTA’s message allowed Metro to save thousands of dollars, compared with working with an outside agency to develop similar creative materials.

Everyone Loves a Contest

The centerpiece of Metro’s campaign was a contest encouraging riders to share their transit stories. The agency received hundreds of Using APTA’s Creative entries for its “Tell Us Your Story” for Advertising contest and narrowed them down The system began using APTA’s to five video and written stories. Public Transportation Takes Us Cincinnati Metro employees invite members of the public to tell The finalists were posted on www. There theme in late 2009 when it their stories. go-metro.com, and hundreds of wrapped its new articulated buses people voted for their favorites. about growing up and family traditions to represent the campaign themes. The stories ranged from narratives to poems, songs, and raps. The stories all This was followed in the spring with bus

Reaching Out to the Community
Metro promoted its efforts at more than 20 community events throughout the summer. This included story times at libraries and hosted events at park-andrides where Metro representatives gave away prizes to engage the community in a dialogue on the benefits of transit. These efforts boosted the number of contest entries and generated community awareness. Metro also created an annual report to the community with the same theme and worked with its board chair, Melody Sawyer Richardson, to create an email blast campaign to reach thousands of constituents with key messages.

Public Relations Amplifies the Message
With news releases, pitches to media, and social media efforts, Metro’s public relations efforts served to promote the contest and other system-wide “Public Transportation Takes Us There” initiatives. In addition to honoring the contest winners, who were selected by popular vote, Metro presented a special award of a year of free rides to a 96-yearold soup kitchen volunteer who takes the bus every day. The story was covered in a feature article in the Cincinnati Enquirer. In August, Metro also unveiled three new hybrid buses, purchased with federal funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, at a Cincinnati park. While highlighting the environmentally friendly aspects of these new vehicles, Metro was able to demonstrate the environment message of the campaign. “APTA’s Public Transportation Takes Us There campaign was a perfect fit for our summer initiative,” said Sallie Hilvers, Metro’s chief public affairs officer. “Our goal was to educate the community about transit’s many benefits. The feedback has been positive from both riders and non-riders, and this campaign will serve as a platform for ongoing community dialogue on the value of transit.”

34 | Passenger Transport
Passenger Transport 2010 APTA Annual Meeting

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Passenger Transport 2010 APTA Annual Meeting
