Marketing
Special Recognition

Vancouver’s "Ride & Shine" ridership recovery campaign

TransLink (British Columbia)

  • Marketing
Where
Canada
when
2022
Elevator pitch
Ridership was sitting below pre-pandemic levels, and with a target of reaching 80% by end of 2022, Ride & Shine was developed to attract discretionary trips to transit. The campaign proved successful in reaching our recovery target.
Project description

Ridership in Metro Vancouver dropped during the pandemic by over 80%. While recovery improved over the next two years – thanks to safety and reconnection strategies – ridership eventually plateaued still below pre-pandemic levels.  With a system that is vital to the region’s livability and sustainability – and one that is dependent on fare revenue – the challenge was obvious: we needed to get people back on transit.

While commuting patterns changed dramatically, and perhaps permanently with the new hybrid work environment, TransLink identified leisure travellers as the target audience. Using extensive research, the Ride & Shine Campaign was created, positioning transit as the most convenient way to experience summer leisure destinations.

Innovative features

Ride & Shine utilised many features to drive ridership consideration. We targeted key service areas across Metro Vancouver and developed unique route-specific campaigns that promoted hyper-local and relevant destination content – with messaging that emphasised transit’s advantages over driving.

To incentivize action, we created unique offers through partnerships with attractions, events, and more. These campaigns ran across geofenced digital ads and targeted out-of-home offers. Awareness was raised through key messages promoted across our transit system, as well as via partner channels and through social influencers.

To bring the campaign to life, community outreach boosted the campaign with in-person promotions and activations at events.

Ride & Shine

Ride & Shine exceeded targets and expectations.

The campaign delivered over 2.7 million video views and 13 million website impressions. Result metrics directly attributed the campaign to increases in recovery rates across our geo-targeted areas – with boardings at the key points of interest growing upwards of 14.5%. And at a time when overall recovery numbers had become stagnant, there was a 10% system-wide increase in ridership during the campaign.

At the close of the campaign, ridership reached 80% pre-pandemic levels. Not only did we achieve our campaign targets, but the campaign contributed to an overall return to transit that amounted to the strongest ridership rebound in North America – making TransLink a leader in transit recovery.

  • 2.7 million

    people viewed the campaign video

  • 10% ridership increase

    across the whole Metro Vancouver network

  • Strongest ridership recovery

    in North America

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