GoTriangle Operator Respect Campaign

Target Audience: Our audiences were in this order of importance: Riders: Our operators had been experiencing a very high number of incidents against them, many around asking riders to wear masks. Operators: We wanted our operators to know that we supported them in a very public way by showing this request for respect in as many ways as we could. Potential Operators: We, like many other agencies, are experiencing tremendous shortages. This campaign also served as an added piece for any job related promotion that we were running.

Strategy Objective:We wanted this campaign to show support to our Operators. That they weren't alone on the bus when they are out every day. That when they see the signs we've created to go on the bus stop shelters, hear the video at the transit stations, see the bus placards, hear the on-bus announcements that they will feel supported. We wanted riders to be reminded through this campaign, and a cornerstone of our messaging in the video, is that our Operators are people too. They are husbands, wives, friends, daughters, sons, etc. The objective was to humanize someone that they may see every day and forget that in addition to needing to enforce rules, like mask usage, they are also going home to their families at night and deserve the same amount of respect and kindness that riders do.

Situation Challenge: GoTriangle operators were experiencing a much higher than normal number of incidents against them, some quite serious and involving police and hospital stays for our staff. This needed to be addressed in a public way. As an agency we felt very strongly that we needed to do everything we could to protect our Operators who are on the front line and especially during the past two years when they had really gone above and beyond in their role in our agency and in the community. We then decided on a regional approach and asked the other transit agencies in our region to participate by including their logos and including the marketing pieces that we created in their own promotions. We were successful in pitching and then including 4 other transit partners making it a truly regional approach.

Results Impact: We saw incredible engagement online including over 1300 impressions, 30+ comments, 20+ shares. The campaign is still running and we are still seeing engagement continuing. The feedback from the operators was overwhelmingly positive. We achieved greater public awareness of the issue of safety and respect onboard our buses. We continue to use this campaign to support our outreach and job recruitment efforts.

Why Submit: Our campaign brought together 5 transit agencies to support 600+ operators in the Triangle region. We were very quickly able to deploy messaging in response to an increase in incidents in our region in support of their being deserving of courtesy, kindness and respect. A comprehensive campaign was pulled together that not only included digital, social, print, radio and video but also included visuals from 5 different agencies – logos, operators, etc. This campaign was well received by operations, our local community and was published in Mass Transit online publication.