CTDOT Customer Experience Action Plan

Target Audience: The target audience for the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) Customer Experience (CX) Action Plan marketing, communications and outreach campaign, is the entire state of Connecticut with a focus on bus, rail and paratransit customers and stakeholders. The CTDOT CX Action Plan will serve to highlight customer needs across multiple modes and improve the transit experience statewide.

Strategy Objective:The CTDOT CX Action Plan has four main objectives. Connect with transit riders to listen and learn about their experience using public transportation. Better understand changing customer needs, expectations, and desires for the state's transit system. Define a vision for the future of public transportation in Connecticut which is based on customer priorities. Create a clear plan that includes actions that can be taken to achieve the vision and make transit a more pleasant, reliable, and efficient experience for everyone. The outreach, marketing, and communications campaign was key to addressing the first two objectives and will play a central role in the development of the CTDOT CX Action Plan.

Situation Challenge: Public transportation is at a pivotal moment in Connecticut and across the nation. The pandemic has reinforced the fact that public transportation is essential. Providing equitable access to high quality public transit is vital to the success of our communities and our state. This Customer Experience Action Plan will ensure we are making customer-focused investments that will position us to meet the needs of those we serve and create a better, more connected, reliable, and sustainable public transportation system.

Results Impact: The campaign included 36 pop-up events at rail stations, bus stops/hubs and community events, 10 focus groups, 26 stakeholder interviews including 18 service provider interviews, an online survey as well as a front-line employee survey. The campaign resulted in over 10,000 interactions. These interactions included completed surveys, comments collected through a variety of methods, and short form surveys done at pop-up events. Feedback forms were provided in multiple languages. A social media campaign helped to drive survey participation, as well as promote pop-up events. The feedback received will inform the development of CTDOT CX Action Plan and serve as the guiding voice for investments in public transportation in the state.

Why Submit: The CTDOT CX Action Plan outreach, marketing and communications campaign was submitted to highlight the robust effort to solicit feedback on Connecticut's public transportation system. The campaign featured a recognizable brand, a bright and fun color palette, a dedicated webpage (www.transitcx.com), and a variety of ways for the public to engage. Since the focus of the Action Plan is "Putting Customers First," priority was placed on going to bus stops/hubs and train stations all over the state to meet customers where they are. The campaign was a great success and resulted in an abundance of data, feedback and comments. This feedback will be the center of the CTDOT CX Action Plan and will be used to develop priority areas and actions to improve public transportation in Connecticut.