More Riders

Take the Transit Store to the Next Level

Arlington County, Virginia does a bang-up job with their rider outreach. They run a variety of efforts to get more riders onto both their own buses and onto other mass transit in the Washington, D.C. region.

One of their most successful efforts is their chain of transit stores. The three stores carry all kinds of transit information and allow people to buy passes to all of the region’s transit. In this age of digital communication, the transit store concept is one of their most successful efforts. People want face-to-face interaction

I was thinking about the transit store while wrapping up layout of the inaugural issue of More Riders magazine when I came across a way to take the transit store concept one step further. The lesson comes from Delta Airlines.

More after the jump.
Delta has opened a swank lounge in Midtown Manhattan. The Sky360 lounge offers Delta’s new food offerings, a bar in the evening, free wi-fi, and a variety of other services (including free, clean restrooms).

The lounge also allows potential passengers to try out Delta’s new seats, and passengers can sign up for the airlines frequent flyer program. There are also concerts and community events. It is so successful, Delta extended the lounge’s six-week run.

In effect, Delta created a “third space” where people could hang out. The lounge creates a positive impression in potential passengers, and it allows both locals and tourists alike a place to get their questions answered. It is an ingenious stroke of marketing.

Combining the Sky360 lounge with Arlington’s transit store concept would be easy. A well-designed space could include a bus or train mock-up (to help deal with rider intimidation), as well a comfortable lounge area, free wi-fi and community events. The store/lounge could even be built on a trailer bed so it could travel to local festivals.

Because it would be so unique, such a combination has the potential to create a buzz in the community and provide free media. And because the agency is providing a space to hang out, it creates in the potential rider the impression that the transit agency is a part of their daily life. From there, it’s an extremely short journey onto the bus.