MBTA Commuter Rail Marketing - initiative to grow ridership and revenue, which includes the first-ever revenue share in the US between a PTA and private operator

Target Audience: Keolis/MBTA launched a first-of-its-kind campaign to increase revenue/ridership. We focused on opportunities that wouldn't add passengers to already busy trains and wouldn't require added service. This led us to: Leisure Travel: Inbound travelers to Boston ' Mostly MA residents but occasional travelers from NH, RI and ME heading to the greater Boston area on weekends or for weekday events (e.g. games). Outbound travelers from Boston - Non-car owning Boston residents traveling to areas served by Commuter Rail for leisure outings. Reverse Commute: Car driving commuters living in Boston and commuting to areas served by Commuter Rail. This campaign recently launched. Both are comprehensive omni-channel campaigns with digital, TV, radio, in-station and social media advertising.

Strategy Objective:The strategy was to grow revenue/ridership with leisure travelers and reverse commuters. We concepted, designed and deployed an omni-channel campaign addressing "commuting" misconceptions while attracting a targeted audience of new riders. This marketing included: Associating Commuter Rail with leisure activities in our network area;Educating prospective reverse commuters on resources available to them and convenience of trains;Ensuring a comfortable first experience. We launched a microsite for each unique target and educated them in a Commuter Rail environment. Mbta.com/swapadrive brought many third-party resources together in one website for reverse commuters to learn how to commute by train. MBTA.com/massbytrain showcased what was "just a train ride away" with info on routes/pricing.

Situation Challenge: We faced 2 challenges. We resisted the market of peak commuters to not add passengers to trains near capacity. This shaped our highly-targeted campaign, especially in reaching reverse commuters. Using data we isolated our audience to target only Boston residents traveling to areas serviced by Commuter Rail Mon to Fri and people who recently moved to a new home. The name Commuter Rail in Boston means commuting to the public, so we needed to develop creative for our leisure campaign using a name that suggested otherwise. This led us to our "this-not-that" creative that showcases what "Commuter Rail" is vs what people think. We needed to simultaneously simplify ticket purchasing options, which included the successful deployment of 400 new POS devices for conductors that accept CCs onboard.

Results Impact: The leisure campaign already generated 60 million+ impressions and over 180,000 visits to the custom leisure-focused microsite. Visits to MBTA.com leisure destination content is up over 68% compared to the period before the campaign launch. Earned media promoting these campaigns, including the $10 weekend fare pilot, has generated hundreds of thousands of impressions that are positive promotionally and reputationally. The program has been underway for one year. We are seeing very strong and measurable success in the impression count of our campaigns and key metrics like click-through rates. Early indications suggest that ridership and revenue growth is also taking place as a result of a variety of factors, including a strong local economy, improved fare collection tools and marketing.

Why Submit: This is the first-of-its-kind of this scale on Commuter Rail and first-ever in the US to include a revenue share between a private operator and transit agency, providing risk-sharing and innovation.With Boston traffic among the worst in the US, the MBTA and Keolis have an obligation to deploy strategies that help get cars off the road and people onto public transit, which helps reduce congestion and lessen the community's environmental impact.After a successful year 1, including launch of new tech to make payment simpler as well as two omni-channel campaigns, we believe this innovative marketing/revenue-share partnership can be a model across the United States. We look forward to continuing this initiative to further increase revenue, attract riders and deploy new tech to enhance rider exp