Youth Zero Bus Pass Program

Target Audience: For the Shoestring Tactic, 89 percent increase in ridership for less than $4,000, the primary audience for the Community-Sponsored Youth Pass Program is youth ages 0 to 18 and their families.

Strategy Objective:We had to get the word out as quickly as possible. We had no dedicated budget, our lead marketing coordinator was on extended leave, and we had less than three weeks from board approval to go live. Given the budget and time constraints, we produced everything in house. The advantage of partnering with local government and the public school system, is the availability of the dozens of no or low-cost communication channels, including electronic newsletters, electronic flyers to students and families, and the multiple social media platforms used by the four partners.

Situation Challenge: Our board president was interested in our agency offering a no-cost to students bus pass program. While agency leadership supported the idea, there was no dedicated funding available. Undaunted by this challenge, Board President Ian Davidson approached the mayors of the two cities and the school district that would be impacted. He secured the money within a week. We thought we would have months or even a year to plan. We had three weeks until school started.

Results Impact: The program launch was Sunday, Sept. 4, 2022. During the first two weeks, more than 8,000 additional rides were recorded. Youth ridership increased by more than 30,000 rides or 89 percent from October 2021 to October 2022. Our buses are full!

Why Submit: This entry represents everything that we marketers want to contribute to our industry every day: partnering with our communities, meeting a need for service, raising public awareness of public transit, and establishing the next generation of transit users. We departed from our typical graphic design style and created one that was youthful, whimsical, and colorful. The outpouring of public feedback for the design was unprecedented. The eye catching design drew people in, held their interest, and word quickly spread about the new program.