Rio Metro RTD Rail Safety PSA

Target Audience: Rio Metro Regional Transit District created a 30-second Rail Safety public service announcement video, which was aired in conjunction with Rail Safety Week. The video featured three important safety tips for individuals at train stations and traveling or recreating near railroad tracks. The target audience was 1) New Mexico Rail Runner Express passengers; 2) individuals living, driving, and recreating in the communities along the 100-mile Rail Runner corridor in central New Mexico; and 3) the thousands of individuals that follow the Rio Metro and Rail Runner social media accounts.

Strategy Objective:The video features four Rail Runner crew members. An engineer kicked-off the PSA with a short intro. Three other crew members shared specific safety tips – heads up/avoid distractions, stand behind the yellow lines, walk your bike at stations and across tracks – each with an appropriate prop or location such as headphones, station platform edge, and bicycle. Specific tips were chosen based on common concerns on/near Rail Runner stations and tracks. Having actual crew members in the video made it relatable to the public, as they are the faces passengers see when they ride the train. The PSA was published online and on social media the weekend before Rail Safety Week as a kick-off to the campaign and aired on local cable stations and targeted streaming TV during and after Rail Safety Week.

Situation Challenge: According to the Federal Railroad Administration, there were 892 rail related fatalities in the US in 2022, and more than 1,350 injuries. Rail safety is a priority for Rio Metro. This PSA featured key educational safety tips aimed at injury and fatality prevention at train stations and on/near railroad tracks. Operation Lifesaver, Inc. (OLI), the national rail safety education nonprofit, held its annual Rail Safety Week initiative September 18-24, 2023. This presented Rio Metro with the opportunity to produce this educational video and run it in conjunction with the national campaign as well as our local Rail Safety Week campaign, which ran during the same timeframe. While it was created to air in conjunction with Rail Safety Week, the PSA is evergreen so it can be used again.

Results Impact: The PSA reached thousands of people, creating greater public awareness. It was posted to YouTube, the Rio Metro website, social media, and aired on cable/streaming TV stations. To date, Facebook reach is 1,376 with 1,955 plays and 314 min viewed. Instagram reach is 449 and 65 likes. Twitter has 298 impressions, 22 engagements, and 111 views. YouTube has 2,547 impressions, 223 views, an average view duration of 28-seconds, and 1.8 hrs of watch time. The webpage has 155 views. The PSA ran on 40 networks and streaming TV locally from Sept. 22-Oct. 28. It delivered high reach and frequency to our targeted geographic audience, with 135,521 impressions and 732 hrs of interaction. 42,130 of the impressions were delivered in premium content with 95% of the video impressions viewed in full.

Why Submit: Safety is our top priority at Rio Metro. Each year we develop a unique component to our Rail Safety Week campaign to keep content fresh and engaging, which prompted us to create this PSA. The video reached several thousand people across a variety of platforms. YouTube, website, and social media results were all organic and reached our targeted social media and passenger audience. TV results indicated the video was extremely engaging, and it reached our target geographic audience on cable/streaming stations. Staff was engaged and eager to be involved in the video. The public has reported enjoying it, especially seeing the familiar faces of actual crew members. We believe that the high number of people reached and the overall engagement and interest in the video makes this a winning entry!