"We're all Ears!" Reimagine RTS - System Redesign Study Outreach Campaign

Target Audience: Current Customers, Employees, Key Stakeholders, Elected Lawmakers, Business/Community Partners, General Community

Strategy Objective:RTS hired TMD, a consulting firm with national transit experience, to conduct a study of the public transit system in Monroe County. TMD's task was to identify for us what the fixed-route transit system should look like. In other words, where the 40- and 60-foot buses should go and with what frequency. In order to reimagine a new system, a robust public awareness and engagement process was needed. Innovative and non-traditional tools were used in 150+ events, focus groups, and meetings that engaged people with an original trade-off educational board game, budgeting and mapping exercises, live audience polling, and surveys to capture input from a variety of customers, employees, stakeholders and the community. The use of advertising, social media and PR increased awareness and engagement.

Situation Challenge: The public transit system in Monroe County has essentially been the same for decades; designed when downtown Rochester was the center of our community from every perspective. Since then, the demographics of our area have changed, the locations of employment centers have changed, and the number of available transportation options has changed. RTS has made some adjustments over time, but the structure of the transit system is the same. RTS constantly receives requests for more transit, for better transit, and for transit that is more frequent. With more businesses locating to areas of our region that are not served well by public transit, if at all, we expect the demands for more to continue growing. This has created a new reality for public transit that we will not ignore.

Results Impact: Since the public launch of the study in the fall of 2017 to Spring of 2018, we conducted more than 150 outreach sessions with customers, employees and stakeholders. We collected nearly 14,000 surveys online and in-person at the outreach sessions. We placed advertisements with newspapers, radio stations, outdoor poster boards, on the sides of buses, and on digital media. This outreach helped vindicate the consultant's draft system recommendations with over 50% of survey respondents "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with the plan and over 70% saying they would take RTS more frequently or the same amount as they do currently if the recommendations were implemented.

Why Submit: The study captured a wide array of perspectives through the use of many creative engagement advertising strategies, a diverse Community Advisory Committee and specific focus groups that included oft-marginalized stakeholders such as the Disability Community and People of Color. The availability of project materials and advertising in languages other than English, accessible online documents, and the use of Spanish-language and ASL interpreters at public events, helped overcome barriers to participation in the planning process. RTS believes the recommendations, which was highly driven by the community's input, will provide the community with an improved connectivity and sustainability in Monroe County for many years to come.