California Clean Air Day

Target Audience: Metrolink's California Clean Air Day marketing campaign targeted several key demographics in our service area, including environmentalists, culturally diverse audiences, and English and Spanish speakers. The campaign highlighted the importance of air quality, public health, and reducing traffic congestion.

Strategy Objective:On California Clean Air Day, Metrolink offered free fares to highlight the benefits of public transportation, including reducing air pollution, saving money, and saving time. The campaign utilized several partnerships with community organizations to help spread the word about the threat that air pollution poses in our service area and how taking public transportation helps to mitigate the threat. Offering the free fare day also empowered the public to make a big impact on air quality in the region by making one small change: leaving their car at home.

Situation Challenge: Los Angeles has the worst ozone pollution in the United States, according to the 2022 State of the Air Report from the American Lung Association. Metrolink aligned with California Clean Air Day, an annual day of action, to reduce air pollution and boost ridership by offering free rides across our system on October 4, 2023.

Results Impact: The impact and results achieved by the California Clean Air Day campaign were nothing short of remarkable, setting post-pandemic ridership record with an astonishing 26,077 riders – a 30% increase over average weekday ridership figures. A community mural painting event using smog-eating paint, designed to foster community engagement, drew enthusiastic participation with 58 volunteer sign-ups. The event garnered coverage by the ABC affiliate station and numerous other media outlets, reaching a staggering audience of 2,899,106 individuals. Social media and paid advertising efforts also played a pivotal role in spreading the word with an impressive 20,164 page views on the website landing page, showcasing the program's substantial reach and its ability to connect with the community.

Why Submit: The campaign used a variety of unique and engaging tactics, such as painting a smog-eating mural with a special paint additive, sponsoring a children's workshop on pollution, and educating college students on the availability of public transit near their campus. These tactics helped to raise awareness about the benefits of public transit in a creative and memorable way. The campaign was highly effective in increasing ridership, setting a post pandemic ridership record, which demonstrates that it was successful in convincing people to try public transportation and make it a part of their daily routine.