VTA Summer Youth Pass

Target Audience: The 2022 Summer Youth Pass (SYP) targeted families that have Gen Z pre-teens and teenagers (ages 11 to 18 years) looking for independence during the summer and parents seeking relief from driving duties during summer break; June through August. We also targeted schools, recreation centers, and social service workers trying to help these families find summer transportation solutions.

Strategy Objective:To successfully reintroduce Summer Youth Pass after a 2-year hiatus, the promotional strategy had to be in line with post-pandemic cultural shifts. As a first for VTA, we partnered with local, woman and minority-owned businesses offering special discounts to SYP customers: Nirvana Soul Coffee, KTea Café; Jackie's Place Soul Food, and Mayan Kitchen . VTA also partnered with local artist Jasmine Yee to design the 2022 pass. Her art highlighted the diversity and inclusion of Santa Clara County and elevated VTA's partnership with these women-owned businesses. An e-mail campaign targeted educators, parents, social workers, and recreation programs. We relied on Out-of-Home ads such as bus wraps and shelter posters and our passenger newsletters, social media channels, blogs, and website.

Situation Challenge: VTA ridership was down due to the pandemic and usually decreases even further during summer break. The Summer Youth Pass has been an annual summer fare program for over 15 years. In the past. we had relied heavily on building up from the previous year's sales and product awareness. Many school newspapers, which were a primary advertisement channel, had shut down due to online schooling. Large program partners from the past, such as the local theme parks, movie theaters, and malls have still not reached pre-pandemic patronage. Parental and communal apprehension about COVID was still a major challenge.

Results Impact: As a result of our efforts, we sold 1,016 passes and exceeded our goal by 2%. With cross-promotion on social media between the four businesses, the artist, and VTA, we were able to reach many new Summer Youth Pass customers from the community. We were extremely happy with our partnership with these women and minority-owned businesses and were delighted that they received increased visibility and experienced increased foot traffic from Summer Youth Pass holders.

Why Submit: Reintroducing the Summer Youth Pass after a two-year gap was quite challenging, especially considering the immense cultural and lifestyle shifts in those two years. We were able to reassure our customers that VTA is safe to ride even through the pandemic. By working together with local small businesses and artists, we were able to establish goodwill in our communities and help struggling businesses increase foot traffic. Our efforts to reintroduce SYP are a prime example of how various communities across the world have worked to rebuild post-pandemic. From the diversity-highlighting art, promoting minority women-owned small businesses, to reintroducing public transit as a feasible option for busy families, the Summer Youth Pass program came back strong and shows a promising future.