METRO TV Spot to Increase Ridership for the Disabled on Regular Our Bus and Light-Rail System.

Target Audience: This entry was designed to target current and potential riders with disabilities. Our mission was to show that METRO's local bus, Park & Ride and and light-rail services are 100% accessible for EVERYONE.

Strategy Objective:We wanted to show the real Ileana, not a made-for-TV version, so we asked Ileana what she did for a living, her interests and anything special she would like to add. We took those things and created a spot that show a vibrant young woman who has a great career, a very active lifestyle, oh, and is a U.S. Paralympic swimmer. Our objective was to show the public that METRO was 100% accessible to the public...and Ileana made it all look too easy. We also created a second version of the commercial to run on Spanish-language television.

Situation Challenge: METRO marketing wanted to feature actual riders who use our services. While this can be a challenge, we felt promoting real people, instead of actors, gave added credibility to our campaign. In this commercial, Ileana, who is regular METRO rider, is a smart and extremely accomplished young lady, who shared an incredible energy on camera. We needed to show that people with disabilities can ride our regular services with little to no problem whatsoever - and Ileana did just that. We promise, no stunt doubles were used in the making of this commercial.

Results Impact: METRO researched the riding habits of our disabled customers using the Freedom Pass and the numbers were overwhelming. We compared the used of METRO Freedom Passes for all METRO local bus, Park & Ride and light-rail services. 2017 - 461,648 rider taps 2018 - 593,690 rider taps ----------------------------- -----> 132,042 MORE riders tapped their fare card using the METRO Freedom Pass in 2018 than the previous year. This number clearly show that rider with disabilities are choosing to ride METRO's bus and light rail services more than ever before!

Why Submit: METRO created a commercial that truly showed METRO's services to be 100% accessible - for everyone. However, we are most pleased with the fact that thousands of people were inspired, with the help of our spot, to switch from our para transit service to our regular bus and light-rail network.