Metro Proterra Battery Electric Bus Rollout

Target Audience: The target audience for this entry included the 150 employees of Metro as well as the Quad Cities general public, elected officials, and business community.

Strategy Objective:For the employee event, we wanted our employees to walk away with a sense of pride and a feeling of great accomplishment knowing that their organization was a pioneer in introducing the Proterra Electric Bus to the state of Illinois. We also wanted them to have a greater understanding and feel comfortable around the new technology. In addition, we took this as an opportunity to allow the entire organization to come together for an afternoon of fellowship with departments they may or may not interact with. For the community rollout press conference, we wanted the community to celebrate this great accomplishment as well, and create civic pride in what their transit district was doing to continue their commitment to sustainability.

Situation Challenge: Metro took delivery of 3 Proterra Battery Electric buses in late Winter, 2018. The challenge was two fold - to increase employee awareness of the technology and generate excitement of the vehicles, as well as to inform the general public, elected officials, and the business community of the latest advancement in sustainable transit vehicles. Metro was the first public transit district in the state of Illinois to implement Proterra Battery Electric buses. We wanted to celebrate this great achievement and create an overall awareness of all the battery electric buses had to offer.

Results Impact: On a very cold and windy day in April, over 100 people (elected officials, media, business community) gathered to celebrate Metro's introduction of battery electric buses to the community. All media outlets covered the story. Positive comments continue to stream in from the general public. The unique branding of the buses and subsequent PR campaign that followed boosted public awareness and Metro's overall image in the community. Employees were thrilled to be included in such a historic event for the organization. From the playlist used during the event (all "electric" themed songs, we even did the electric slide), to the giveaways and fellowship, our employees went home that day proud to be a part of such an exciting revolution.

Why Submit: This special event should win an AdWheel award because we truly went above and beyond traditional measures when we rolled out the battery electric fleet. Instead of "just doing a press conference", we made sure to throw a party for the most important people involved with the project - our employees. And although it was blustery cold day, over 100 people showed up for the outdoor public launch event, including many of our elected officials and all of our media partners. Those in attendance had the first opportunity to take a ride on the new buses, and we generated excitement and increased awareness of transit within our community.