Hidden Tracks: Stories from BART Podcast

Target Audience: We launched the "Hidden Tracks: Stories from BART" podcast series with true transit fans in mind. There are a lot of people in the Bay Area who love public transportation and who want to learn more about it in a long-form format. We wanted to tap into the Numtot community (Numtots are predominately millennials with a passion for public transportation and urban planning). The series allows us to explore the inner workings of BART and answer many of the long-burning questions that our riders have about how we operate.

Strategy Objective:A member of the Communications team has a background in radio news and identified the software and recording equipment necessary to record a professional-grade podcast and a site to host the audio. We distribute Hidden Tracks via iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and SoundCloud and we provide a transcript on bart.gov to keep it accessible to everyone. We promote each episode with a press release and on social media. This has led to several instances of earned media. The series has generated positive stories about public safety on BART, ways riders can help us avoid delays, and what we're doing to deliver a quieter ride. All at a low cost of $144 annually for the SoundCloud subscription- the audio editing software was free, and BART already owned the minimal recording equipment necessary.

Situation Challenge: Podcasts are widely popular as people seek to entertain and educate themselves all hours of the day and especially during down times like a commute. The average BART ride is 20 minutes, offering a perfect amount of time to listen to a podcast while waiting and riding the train. We wanted a way to inform our most passionate riders about BART and allow them to feel more personally invested in our success. It's a chance to hear directly from subject-matter experts and to learn new facts about BART. At the time the Hidden Tracks series was launched, we were not aware of any other public transit agencies in the U.S. that had a podcast series. A lot of this effort was from the ground up. We also had to find a way to distribute the podcast through as many channels as possible.

Results Impact: The series has generated more than 21,000 plays on SoundCloud. The podcast page on BART.gov has attracted more than 4,000 pageviews. Individual pages for each podcast at BART.gov have drawn thousands of additional pageviews. We've released five episodes during the eligible judging period. In addition to allowing us to explore important topics in detail, the podcasts also allow us the chance to promote important initiatives via social media and to generate positive online conversations for BART. These conversations have been noticed by local media outlets and that has led to positive news coverage. It is very rewarding for us when we see someone ask on social media for a new podcast to listen to and for someone else to suggest Hidden Tracks.

Why Submit: We think the podcast series has become an important and unique tool for promoting important topics for BART. The nature of the format allows for a deeper discussion of important subjects and lets us highlight the performance of employees who deserve a moment in the spotlight. This is a different method of storytelling than what is typically employed by public agencies.