Metrolink Instagram Campaign to Promote Ridership on the San Bernardino Line

Target Audience: - Off-peak passengers (weekend trains, midday trains) - Riders in proximity to cities with stations along Metrolink's San Bernardino Line (Los Angeles, El Monte, Baldwin Park, Covina, Pomona, Claremont, Montclair, Upland, Rancho Cucamonga, Fontana, Rialto and San Bernardino) - Millennials - Families - Cal State L.A. students

Strategy Objective:For organic social media efforts, we sent one of our team members on a San Bernardino Line train every week to curate Instagram Story content to present experiences and activities available to riders near stations along the San Bernardino Line. Part of the strategy with utilizing Instagram Story content was to create content with a more personal touch by tapping into the rider experience, usage of pop culture references, etc. Giving Metrolink a more dynamic voice while still adhering to our branding would create an atmosphere of relatability for new riders. Additionally, we thought promoting local attractions and businesses near our stations would likely help us develop positive partnerships with community leaders and business owners.

Situation Challenge: Metrolink observed a decrease in ridership on the San Bernardino Line year over year between Fiscal Year 2016/2017 and Fiscal Year 2017/2018, a loss of nearly 55,000 riders (2 percent). For Fiscal Year 2018/2019, a 25-percent fare discount was introduced along with targeted ads to make strides toward improving ridership. Our social media team was tasked with making travel by means of the San Bernardino Line more enticing.

Results Impact: - Total Instagram Story Slides: 75 - Peak Viewers for an Individual Slide: 2,636 (14% of our Instagram following intentionally opened and viewed our story) - Total Slide Views: 77,733 - Average Views Per Slide: 1,036 - 200+ votes for each poll posted in the story and several direct messages answering pop culture questions posed - San Bernardino Line ridership increased by 4.2% for Q3 YOY. Note: See attachment for ridership numbers

Why Submit: The Instagram Story series is an eye-catching and colorful travel experience documented to inspire riders to use transit beyond work commutes. It also served to educate about local attractions and businesses'benefitting our vision while also providing a service to the community. The creative risk of giving our brand a stronger personality with humor and pop culture references paid off tremendously in the way of higher follower engagement and increasing ridership by 4.2% on one of our stagnant lines. Metrolink tackled its declining ridership head-on with this innovative campaign. We've proven it's possible to launch a cost-effective ridership campaign during a time when all transit agencies nationwide are combating stagnant ridership. We plan to run this campaign again in the future.