WMATA Education Campaign for Major Blue and Yellow Line Construction

Target Audience: The target audiences for this comprehensive communications and outreach campaign are listed below. The campaign targeted each audience before, during, and after the construction impacts. - External: Metro customers, specifically Blue and Yellow Line customers who use stations south of National Airport, all Yellow Line customers; impacted Blue Line customers; Metro social media followers; local elected officials; jurisdictional partner staff; business/community stakeholders, including business improvement districts and community-based organizations; media; and the informed public. - Internal: Metro employees; Metro Board of Directors and Committees (Riders' Advisory Council, Accessibility Advisory Committee)

Strategy Objective:A once-in-a-generation project like this required a comprehensive communications and outreach strategy to promote customer awareness about the outage and educate them about their travel alternatives. Metro wanted to ensure customers were aware of the reasons for the closure and understood why it was necessary to complete this work during the selected timeframe. Completing this work was essential to the health of the system as well as the safety of Metro customers. It was important to demonstrate to customers the need to complete this critical work. Metro kept customers informed about service alternatives and project impacts, promoted awareness and understanding while providing customer service at impacted stations, offered ongoing project updates, and encouraged ridership to return.

Situation Challenge: In September 2022, Metro began constructing new track to connect the future Potomac Yard Station to the Metrorail system, and concurrently started an eight-month rehabilitation of the Yellow Line tunnel and bridge that allows Metro trains to cross the Potomac River between Pentagon and L'Enfant Plaza stations. This was the longest extended closure in Metro's history. Both projects represented significant investments in Metrorail. To expedite the Potomac Yard track work, Metro used a construction strategy that temporarily closed stations with no rail service to allow crews to work nonstop 24/7. Six Blue and Yellow line stations south of Reagan National Airport closed with no rail service from Sept. 10, through Nov. 6, 2022, causing a significant impact to customers.

Results Impact: The Major Blue and Yellow Line Construction communications campaign survey results demonstrate the effectiveness of Metro's communication efforts. More than 80% of customers were aware of the shutdown, and 78% of customers trusted the necessity of major construction on the Yellow Line. Additionally, 77% of customers knew why Metro scheduled the major construction. Finally, 74% of customers had a good understanding of their travel alternatives, reflecting well-executed planning and customer communications efforts.

Why Submit: The communications efforts for this historic project exceeded the objectives. The campaign's transparent, customer-centric approach ensured passengers were well-informed and educated about the project's significance and understood their travel options. Metro regularly conducts customer surveys during major construction projects, and this project received the highest awareness levels of any major shutdown since 2019. Key tactics included in-person outreach resulting in the distribution of more than 145,000 handouts, and media relations efforts that yielded more than 3,859,000 earned media impressions. By achieving these significant results, Metro was able to retain customers. During the closures, more than three-quarters of a million customers used Metro's shuttle service.