Mountain Line Back to School Safety Campaign

Target Audience: Because parents are typically the purchasers of K-12 Student Pass products, they are the target audience of this campaign. Several Flagstaff charter schools do not offer traditional yellow bus service, so it is up to individual families to get their students to and from school. This can be a burden on families with working parents or kids at different schools. Mountain Line offers an easy and safe solution to the school transportation quandary, and it is the parents that need to receive this message.

Strategy Objective:The primary goal of Mountain Line's Safety campaign was to increase awareness among parents of school-age children of the agency's commitment to safety and general safety practices. The secondary goal was to sell K-12 Student Passes. The strategy was to focus on Mountain Line's safety attributes, including the new live cameras on each bus and the addition of an onboard safety supervisor. The campaign combined traditional public relations and print, online, Facebook, and radio advertising, with in-person connections at back-to-school and orientation events. With an objective of putting parents' minds at ease, talking in person and offering up programs like Travel Training was critical to the success of the campaign.

Situation Challenge: Mountain Line has conducted marketing campaigns to promote and sell K-12 Student Passes for the past several years, primarily focusing on appealing to parents with messages of convenience and independence. Recent Rider Satisfaction Surveys and anecdotal conversations with parents of school-age children revealed that safety was a top concern for parents. Many of their fears about safety are unfounded; in fact, Mountain Line has made strides in actively addressing several of the perceived and real safety issues. However, it was clear that Mountain Line's commitment to safety was not reaching this audience, so the 2018 K-12 Student Pass campaign morphed into one with a more robust safety message.

Results Impact: Due to a successful public relations push, the Arizona Daily Sun published an article about Mountain Line's commitment to safety, featuring several of the new and upgraded safety features. This was instrumental in reaching parents, and several brought up the article to staff attending back-to-school events. During the time of the campaign, Mountain Line sold 279 semester and annual K-12 Student Passes, 76 of which were sold in-person at various school events. In addition, attending the school events allowed Mountain Line staff to develop important relationships with school staff, allowing more opportunities for collaboration and to reach out to parents.

Why Submit: Research has shown that young transit riders become lifelong transit riders, so this is a vital market for future transit ridership. Mountain Line sees marketing these K-12 Student Passes as an investment in the future. Additionally, there have long been misperceptions around transit and safety, and this campaign aimed to close that gap and give parents the peace of mind that transit is a safe option for their kids to get to school and around town. Word of mouth is a powerful force, and we find that the parents who choose Mountain Line are our biggest advocates in their school and peer groups. Buses full of young riders and a culture of safety have become hallmarks of the Mountain Line service.