The Wave is Here! - A series of educational videos

Target Audience: A series of short vignettes were developed for current riders, encouraging adoption of the all-new e-fare Wave card and aiming to provide quick and easy access to the most common questions about switching from paper tickets and cash to an e-card.

Strategy Objective:Our strategy for these videos was to build awareness and educate. Our riders had been eagerly awaiting the launch of the Wave card, and our goal was to make the launch and transition to e-fare cards as seamless as possible for them. Making some of the more complicated steps of setting up your card easy to understand was a top priority.

Situation Challenge: With the introduction of an e-fare card, we anticipated many questions from our riders. Some of the specifics involving the card ' such as how and why you should register your card, what to do if you lost your card, and new features like fare capping ' would require a more detailed explanation for users. We know that our riders are diverse with varying levels of tech savviness, so we wanted to present the information in a variety of ways to meet the needs of all of our riders. Videos, featuring a spokesperson who guides users through all the steps of setting up and managing your card, made the new options easy to understand and fun. The videos were used on the Wave's website within the FAQ section, as well as on social media to promote the launch.

Results Impact: The Wave card officially launched on August 14, 2018. The adoption of the card from the beginning was strong. At the date of this submission, we have just under 10,000 active Wave cards in our system. In addition to the benefits provided to users, The Rapid highlighted the positive environmental impacts produced by the new e-fare system to promote its commitment to "green" stewardship and generate community goodwill among those who never ride a bus. The e-fare system eliminates the printing of more than 2.5 million paper tickets each year, including an estimated 300,000 transfers that are never used.

Why Submit: We pride ourselves on providing excellent customer service, and that includes anticipating the needs of our riders while making changes to the way they interact with the bus. Visual content is a necessity in educational communications and we knew the best way to reach those who needed this information most was through short, educational video vignettes. By understanding who we are talking to, we were able to meet and exceed their needs during this transition.