VTA Transit App Endorsement & Partnership

Target Audience: The target audience for VTA's Transit app endorsement campaign was current VTA riders who prefer to use mobile technology and need real-time arrival information, as well as high-potential riders who need an easy way to discover travel options on VTA.

Strategy Objective:This campaign's objective was simply to increase the number of people using the Transit app in Santa Clara County, whether they're current VTA riders or not. We launched a multi-channel campaign: website landing page, promotional videos, a small streaming radio ad buy, social media posts, paid social media ads, on-board WiFi, car cards, system posters, print newsletter distribution, media outreach, and blog posts. We've focused throughout the campaign on Daily Active Users and Monthly Active Users, standard mobile app performance metrics, as measures of success.

Situation Challenge: For years, VTA riders have asked for a mobile app for real-time transit information. Customer expectations are very high, with standards set by many high-quality apps on the market. VTA lacked the resources to design, build and maintain a native app of that caliber for both iOS and Android. Additionally, VTA needs access to data about how its riders use our system that the Transit app has access to and will provide as needed through our agreement

Results Impact: The results: - 50% increase in Daily Active Users on weekdays - 39% increase in Monthly Active Users (more than 6,000 new users per month) VTA and Transit worked closely to develop digital and print messaging, with Transit providing localized screenshots and screen recordings and VTA's Creative Services team handling all production.

Why Submit: This campaign is an example of a public-private partnership to make prudent use of limited public resources while providing transit riders a high-quality product. We heard our customers and community calling for a solution'a VTA app'and found a bootstrap strategy to provide them with something far better than what VTA could have provided itself. Transit has invested nearly $10 million in venture funding in its feature-rich app.