Caltrain: Let's Get There, Together
Target Audience: Caltrain's COVID-19 marketing involved partnering with local media channel KABC-7 to educate the public about new maintenance procedures that had been adopted to clean the trains and why Caltrain should still be their essential transit partner. Specifically, this was targeted at people looking to get out more during the relaxed period of shelter in place in the late spring.
Strategy Objective:Essential workers continued to rely on Caltrain throughout the pandemic and Caltrain's "Let's Get There, Together: Maintenance Waltz" social media marketing campaign sought to educate riders on Caltrain's efforts to help them commute safely. Simultaneously, KABC-7 utilized the same footage, augmented with their own reporting, and helped to highlight the benefits of taking Caltrain to support local businesses and take leisure trips.
Situation Challenge: Before the pandemic, Caltrain transported as many as 60k commuters daily. As riders shifted to working from home to help prevent the spread of the virus, Caltrain's ridership was dramatically reduced by as much as 95%
Results Impact: Caltrain's Maintenance Waltz spots were released in English and Spanish in June. KABC-7 released their Open For Business spot in July. The first piece recognized the shifting demographics of Caltrain's ridership from hi-tech employees to transit dependent essential workers. The latter hoped to capitalize on reduced health restrictions in the summer and support local businesses along the Caltrain Corridor. Caltrain's Maintenance Waltz videos received over 54k+ views across YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. The KABC spots augmented with thousands more views across their broadcast and online platforms. Indeed Caltrain ridership started to return throughout the summer months, but then shut down again as smoke from unprecedented wildfires forced everyone to shelter indoors for weeks.
Why Submit: Caltrain Let's Get There, Together campaign was a reaction to our dramatic loss of ridership due to the pandemic. It recognized the shifting demographics of our riders and began an effort to make service more equitable. Caltrain ridership has continued to diversify and a recent study showed the average annual household income of 2020 Caltrain riders is $95,000, down from $158,000 last year. Additionally, the amount of Latino and African American riders on board has doubled, with the former going from 12% to 26% and the latter from 4% to 8%. Weekend ridership also increased during the summer and slowly returned after the fires as riders sought safe transit solutions to get out and explore. A survey of riders found that 20% of riders were taking the train for leisure vs just 9% in 2019.