Speaking of Free Circulator promotion

I've been meaning to write about this all month, that the DC Circulator, a set of "circulator" bus routes serving Downtown, the National Mall, Georgetown, and other DC neighborhoods, which is provided by DC's Department of Transportation has been promoting bus ridership by making the month of February free.

Yesterday it was announced that this is being extended through March ("D.C. Circulator service will now be free through March," Curbed DC).

I'm just not sure how effective and useful this is (cf. "Is making surface transit free the best transit investment DC can make?," 2016).

From a marketing standpoint, I am of two minds.  First, it's important to understand why people in cities with a relatively good transit system aren't regular users of transit ("What Makes Transit Successful? Survey Says It’s Frequency, Reliability and Shorter Travel Times," Government technology).

Definitionally, circulator routes--straightforward routes on major streets linking key activity centers and with frequent service so you don't have to worry about a time schedule--are supposed to address the primary concerns of frequency, reliability, and shorter travel times. Unless it's outlandishly high, price is a secondary factor.

I can understand the idea behind making an entire month or two free.

 The concept is that you're getting the person used to taking transit, and it takes more than a day or two of regular ridership to build and regularize "transit taking" as routine.

But likely cost isn't enough of a barrier to changing their routines.

 And after a day or two of free transit, the concept is no longer "new" or particularly exciting.

I'd probably instead make one day each month free or one day each quarter and market the h*** out of it. And I would promote free transit days as part of a year round calendar for transit promotion, which in turn would be a subset of a marketing plan for sustainable mobibility.

... or just make the Circulator free to begin with, as is done in other places, such as Baltimore.

"We get where you're going" marketing campaign for YRT/Viva transit, by Acart.

The biggest thing is to create and execute an annual marketing plan for transit.  I tried to get the original marketing plan (YRT/Viva Marketing and Communication Plan 2006 (December 2005)) for the York Region Transit launch of the Viva BRT system in Greater Toronto about 12 years ago, but they wouldn't cough it up, saying that their current Transportation Master Plan is more relevant.

-- "Viva Case Study, Lee Jacobson Consultants

I don't think that's where DC Circulator is as the Transit Development Plan for the service doesn't address marketing at all.