MetroRiderLA

Attention all working class heroes: Metro wants your business.  The latest installment of the billboard ad campaign running in Hollywood features a world-weary cubicle slave proclaiming to the masses that he “M’s to the daily grind.”  The one before that was of a young woman letting us know about the joys of not having to shell out money at the pump.  The theme of these ads focuses on the low cost of Metro and how it will let you keep more of your paycheck than a car.

This is a bit of an odd commercial campaign, because the tone of it really does not pitch the product in glowing terms to the consumer.  It goes more in the direction of the reassuringly cheap option instead of presenting itself as ride that is just as comfortable, if not more so, than taking a car.  Young professionals can be attracted to Metro for more than just saving a buck.  The morning commute offers a good opportunity to get work done and organize for the day plus desk jockeys can get a fleeting amount of exercise when walking from to/from the bus stop.

Let’s further examine who Metro is  trying to attract with these advertisements.  The series is aimed at people in the same age group as the disgruntled employee in the empty office and the sweater lady.  Young working people who have never taken public transport before the economy tanked.  Now there is a big influx of people who are now using metro for economic reasons and a concerted effort should be made to attract and hold onto as many of them as possible.  The message conveyed to potential riders in these ads seems to be that Metro is all right, but more importantly,  much cheaper than owning some wheels.  Money issues may keep people on Metro now when times are bad, but what will happen if/when the economy improves?  Long-term passenger retention of these 20-30 somethings will not just rely on low costs, but a comfortable traveling experience as well.  If services are set at a high standard, these people could become regular passengers for the rest of their lives.

A perfect example of this new breed of metro rider is a young lady who is writing in a blog I recently came across call Snob on a Bus, which details the life of a girl in here in LA who takes Metro because she could not afford to keep her car.  Taking into account that economics dictate nearly all of our actions, will people like this blogger abandon Metro in a year if they suddenly can afford to make that car payment every month?  This will depend on a few factors.  Will attitudes towards taking the bus change to the point where people than can afford a car decide to refrain from having one and opt for mass transit instead?  Also, will the expansion of service offer a comparable amount of convenience as taking a car for these newbies?  The price is right for new Metro riders, now the big factor is the customer experience.

Image courtesy of waltarrrr.

Note: Sorry for the lack of updates lately. I’ve been in the process of moving my operations to a new location. The dust is just starting to settle, and the new HQ should allow me to better balance posting on MetroRiderLA and my other work. Plus, now I have an actual commute, I will be biking to work!

• I don’t usually condone it when bicyclists are a-holes, but this is pretty incredible footage.
• Animated tunnel advertisements on the Red Line seem to amaze most, but have a few people upset.
• Bike lanes go up at the speed of knitting in LA, and bicyclists think that sucks.
• To our favorite troll, Ocean: New York City looking to LA’s Rapid buses for inspiration.
• Can mass transit hope to compete with the global oil industry?
• Despite rising gas prices and rising transit usage, the governor plans to divert $1.4 billion away from public transit and put it in the general fund.
• The Free Way Act, created by a small government conservative, aims to keep pricing off of federally funded freeways.

• Students know what L.A. needs: viable public transit!
• More thoughts on the new Speed Racer Red Line advertisements, people love these things!
• Metro’s plans for 2009: finish the Rapid system, finish the Gold Line Eastside Extension, and start adding fare gates.
• City plans on giving away land near the North Hollywood Red Line station to developers. Joel Kotkin upset.
• Inland Empire residents pay a whole lot for their commutes. I wonder if sitting in traffic is worth it?
• Bicyling Magazine paints a rosy picture of Los Angeles, Westside BikeSIDE sets the story straight.

Ahh, the audacity of hope… for a car-free future.

Last week, Metro released to the public their Draft Long Range Transportation Plan. The LRTP is a document that looks to assess and address the transportation needs of the Los Angeles area for the next 25 years.  A quarter of a century is a pretty big number, it’s hard to say if I’ll still be blogging when I’m 52, but if I am I’ll be able to link back to this post and review how the plan was implemented.

The next 40 days are crucial for the next 25 years, since Metro is allowing public comment on their plan until April 25th.   In order to encourage people to get involved, Metro has launched the Barrack Obama inspired “Imagine” campaign, in which Metro asks people to imagine a better future.  Yes we can!

The Imagine campaign may be Metro’s best marketing campaign yet.  It’s certainly the most complete.  The LRTP document[PDF] itself is beautifully designed, with inspiring photography that spans pages and equally inspiring copy.  The website is bold, colorful, easy to navigate, and interactive.  There’s even what I believe to be a Metro first… a blog! The blog even accepts comments.  There’s also a full on advertising assault, with billboards and posters promoting the Imagine campaign popping up all over the city.

Such audacity!

Join the conversation about the Long Range Transportation Plan in the new MetroRiderLA Forum.

Metro San Fernando Valley Sector Council member Kymberleigh Richards is known for her outspoken defense of Metro when it comes to criticism about bus stops and the lack of comfortable benches/shelters. Kymberleigh makes it clear that since Metro doesn’t own the shelters, benches, or anything else at a bus stop other than the signs, they have no control over the comfort level of the stop. In a recent rant, inspired by a Daily News article about revenue loss due to residents fighting against new bus shelters (provided by an advertising company) that they claim would bring blight to their neighborhoods, Kymberleigh draws the line between improved bus stop conditions and advertising. In the current reality, the two are correlated and you can’t have one without the other. So which is it going to be, comfier bus stops and more money for the city’s dwindling coffers, or neighborhoods free of corporate noise? Kymberleigh sides towards the former, and offers this bit of advice for those on her side:

I am offering a bit of advice to everyone who has ever wanted a shelter placed at their favorite bus stop: Write your elected member of the City Council. Tell him or her that you disagree with the perception that these shelters are advertising blight and should be restricted. And then make an official request for your favorite corner to receive a shelter.

Read Kymberleigh’s entire rant here.

Who will win, Metro’s Miss Traffic or Capital Metro’s i-Ride?

Cue the Rocky theme song, because today ladies and gentlemen, we here at MetroRiderLA are bringing you ringside to the transit fight of the season….

In one corner we have the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority, better known as Metro. Metro is a heavyweight in the transit world, holding the record for third largest transit agency in the country. Metro has a daily ridership of 1.6 million people, 191 bus routes covering 1,433 square miles, 5 rail lines (3 light rail and 2 subway) with 73 miles of track, and was voted “America’s Best” in 2006 by the American Public Transit Association. In addition, Metro has made numerous television and film appearances. Metro is the very definition of a contender.

In the other corner we have the Capital Metropolitan Transit Authority, also known as Capital Metro. This bantamweight from Austin, TX is scrappy in every sense of the word. With only 68 bus routes, no rail (a commuter line is scheduled to open this year), and a ridership of 130,000, Capital Metro is a David to Metro’s Goliath. Sure Capital Metro offers dirt cheap fares (50 cents is the most you’ll pay), interactive Google based bus maps, HTML formated schedules, and Wi-Fi access for passengers, but does that stuff even matter?

What’s brought these two clearly unbalanced fighters here today is the marketing contests both agencies are currently promoting. Metro will henceforth be represented by Miss Traffic and Capital Metro will be reprsented by i-Ride. Miss Traffic and i-Ride are both contests that attempt to get people excited about transit by telling stories about why they ride. This fight is over which contest is better.

Let’s get ready to rumble!!!

(more…)