Santa Clarita Transit - Holiday Light Tour

Target Audience: The target audience for the Holiday Light Tour was the greater Santa Clarita community. The event was open to all and aimed at drawing regular Santa Clarita Transit riders, as well as inspiring new riders to feel comfortable and connected to local transit services. Additionally, given the frequent influx of new Santa Clarita residents, the opportunity to introduce them to the available services was another event goal. The social media outreach in advance of the event was planned to encourage Santa Clarita residents to attend the tour, inform the public of transit services, and spark holiday joy throughout the community.

Strategy Objective:Santa Clarita Transit staff wished to promote confidence in our services and to increase ridership from residents. Transit staff partnered with the City's Communications staff to utilize social media to promote the event online in advance, with one video garnering nearly 15,000 views on Instagram. The social media objective was to make residents aware of this opportunity and to directly connect to viewers and community members.

Situation Challenge: Santa Clarita Transit, much like other transit agencies, has navigated hardships throughout the ongoing pandemic and this annual event was extremely imperative to unite the community through the safe return of a popular event. Events like the Holiday Light Tour allow for the promotion of confidence in transit services, even in challenging times. The ability to bring back this fun event also aided in delivering essential goods and items to those in need throughout Santa Clarita.

Results Impact: The Holiday Light Tour satisfied regular riders and successfully introduced new riders to the services available to them through Santa Clarita Transit. During the three-day event, approximately 1,200 took part in the seasonal tour. The ride cost $3 or was free with a donation of canned goods. As a result, the Transit team was pleased to collect 500 pounds of food to donate to the Santa Clarita Food Pantry. In addition, the event received over $900 in cash for distribution to Santa Clarita Valley non-profit organizations.

Why Submit: Santa Clarita Transit's Holiday Light Tour is being submitted to AdWheels 2022 because of its success in reaching Santa Clarita residents and unifying the community during the holiday season. It was a very successful event in encouraging ridership, as well as canned food and cash donations, allowing us to give back to the community. The impact of the event was widespread and evident through the positive reactions leading up to, during and after the tour. Some attendees even shared their feedback and appreciative words on social media in comments such as, "We had a blast last night! Thank you!!!"