Breeze Trolley ROCKS! -- LRTA's "Ride & Find" Painted Rock Adventure - Special Event

Target Audience: The target audience was primarily local Hilton Head Island and Bluffton, South Carolina residents. We especially targeted those with families including children who would like to create, hide, and find painted rocks along the Breeze Trolley routes on Hilton Head Island to win prize packs. We leveraged our membership in the Facebook Group: "Hilton Head Rocks!" for rock-painting and hiding enthusiasts, as well as several other Facebook Groups. Another target included supporters and stakeholders in the success of the trolley services. An additional target included the visitors and guests to the area celebrating late summer vacations.

Strategy Objective:Our objective was to fill a ridership gap toward the end of our operating season in the week between the high travel season and the Labor Day weekend. Our strategy was to create an interactive, family-friendly activity that all could participate in. We had staff and their families create 20 painted rocks to get the activity started and we encouraged participants to create their own rocks, including hosting a Breeze Trolley ROCKS! rock-painting party at the Art Cafe, one of the trolley's official partners.

Situation Challenge: The week between the end of the summer vacation season and the Labor Day weekend (the last weekend in August) is known historically to suffer a drop off in ridership for the Breeze Trolley service in Hilton Head. Most families are back to work and school, and the long Labor Day weekend is a week away, so the number of passengers typically declines. We developed the Breeze Trolley ROCKS! weekend event to encourage local families and groups of passengers to ride the trolley that weekend to hide, find, and re-hide painted rocks along the routes, share their activity with posts on Facebook, and be entered to win one of ten prize packs. The purpose was to have fun and perhaps even ride the trolley for the first time when it is not as busy as it is during the high season.

Results Impact: The primary result of the event was a weekend of ridership numbers much closer to an average weekend in the summer, helping avoid the ridership gap that the Breeze Trolley typically experiences that weekend. In fact, the Sunday of the Breeze Trolley ROCKS! event was the fourth highest ridership day for the entire month of August, and the Friday and Saturday numbers were about the same as the average for a Friday or Saturday in August. We estimate that the event resulted in about 55-65% of the weekend's total trips. A secondary result was the community participation in an event that supported self-expression, relied on creativity, and fostered a culture of arts on the Island. There were 12 organizations and businesses involved in the event, including the Town's Cultural Affairs Dept.

Why Submit: This was the inaugural Breeze Trolley ROCKS! event and due to popular demand it will be returning in 2023 to accomplish the same missions: having fun with our passengers and filling a gap in ridership due to the end of the busy summer travel season. We achieved a ridership level that weekend that was on par with other weekends thanks to the event. We also impressed dozens of first-time riders, educating them about the trolley routes and how they can assist in getting around Hilton Head without having to drive personal vehicles. Our social media impact was enormous, even though our seasonal service was drawing to a close for the year. This sets us up with many more passengers and supporters of the service for 2023, which will lead to an expansion of public transit service in the Lowcountry.