Op-eds, publicity and transit (marketing)

THE ENQUIRER / CARRIE COCHRAN. Remodeled stops at Government Square provide better service for Metro riders downtown.

Our friends at the Reason Foundation keep getting op-eds published based on their latest report clamoring for more roads. The latest is in the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel.

This is a campaign. See:
-- Building Roads to Reduce Traffic Congestion in America's Cities: How Much and at What Cost?
-- Press Release
-- Reason Foundation Launches Mobility Project
-- Why Mobility Matters by Ted Balaker (.pdf)

Similarly, other conservatives that call providing funding to the Washington area subway system "a bailout"--Melanie Scarborough in the Examiner, or "the largest earmark in history"--Ronald Utt, Heritage Foundation, in the Examiner and probably the Washington Times, are campaigning too.

If WMATA has as many media and public information people as Melanie Scarborough says, then perhaps there could be a more active public response with op-eds as well.

NOTE to the Reason Foundation, Melanie Scarborough, and the Heritage Foundation--just two local highway projects, the Wilson Bridge and Springfield Interchange, will cost about $3.2 Billion! Half the cost is government subsidy, as road costs are only covered to the tune of about 50% by taxes and fees charged to drivers.

I mention this because Michael Setzer, the director of the Cincinnati public transit system, has a nice op-ed in the Cincinnati Enquirer, "Transit should become ride of choice to save fuel." From the piece:

Transit is an attractive and efficient alternative, and Metro has been changing to better serve the commuter market over the past two years. Our new, fresh "wheel" logo is only an outward symbol of a much deeper transformation occurring in Cincinnati's traditional little bus system.

Under the auspices of a three-year business plan designed to upgrade service and customer amenities, Metro is focusing on excellence. Customers' expectations are higher than in the past. Of course, people want a safe, clean bus that arrives when it's scheduled. Of course, they want a friendly and professional driver. But they want more than these basics.

So what is Metro offering to lure people out of their cars? The recently opened sleek, modern Government Square welcomes Metro commuters and complements the downtown renaissance. New low-floor buses sporting the wheel logo eliminate steps making it easier and faster for everyone to board the bus. More express options from Mason, West Chester and Western Hills were added this month.

Tech-savvy riders can hop on wi-fi free at Government Square, Metro's new Anderson Center Station park and ride, and bus stops at the Art Museum and Museum Center, thanks to a partnership with Project Lily Pad. We're also one of the first transit systems in the nation to experiment with mobile Wi-Fi on buses. ...

Transit is a product, like detergent or cellular service. We have to win our customers every day. When commuters weigh their options, we want them to view Metro as a smart choice and go Metro for at least some trips.

I have mentioned some of my thoughts about transit marketing in past blog entries, such as
-- Making Transit Sexy
-- More on Metro and rethinking transit marketing.

The same concepts are relevant to public services marketing, and come in part from social marketing, which usually focuses on individual behavior change, as well as campaign development and organizing, which focuses on structural change. This comes out of a recognition that organizations have different publics to which they must market to simultaneously.

Transit riders and prospects are one segment to which transit organizations must market. Transit funders are another segment. When I mention public services, this includes all sorts of programs, such as those involved in commercial district revitalization or historic preservation, as I wrote about in this blog entry: "Main Street and getting schooled in politics, constituency building, and building support for your program."

The local newspapers write about the local transit system practically daily. But the system is less well represented on the opinion pages, and certainly without the strenuousness of position if not virulence of the anti-transit-pro-road contingent... I mean, even Utt had an op-ed in the Baltimore Sun, an influential paper in terms of impact on the State of Maryland government, which is one of the funders of the Washington DC area subway system.

Index Keywords: transit