In all aspects of business – communications particularly – it is paramount to reduce the degrees of separation between the service provider and the service consumers (transit agencies and riders, in this case). Doing so allows for the most efficient flow of information from top to bottom and reinforces the customer’s brand loyalty, so to speak.
New York’s MTA this week took a well-advised step closer to their riders when CEO Eliot Sander held the inaugural State of the MTA address on March 3 to an audience of nearly 1,000 people. (Try drawing that sort of attention at a budget hearing or during a period of public comment). The timing, logically, coincided with a fare increase just a day earlier – part of a region-wide escalation on transportation fees (March 16 will see bridge and tunnel tolls jump, as well).
The tactic – from its clever title to its tone – not only serves as a direct line of communication to the country’s largest population of riders, but also brings the issue of transit service and infrastructure to the forefront of the city’s, and even the state’s, concern. As we’ve discussed previously, it is a strong public affairs technique to sidle up with riders and glare back at political bureaucracy. Sander did just that, putting Albany’s feet to the fire to approve a $29.5 billion capital plan, and noting “We recognize that $29.5 billion is a lot of money, but we have no choice, and I’m sure you’d agree.”
Sander assured listeners that the revenue stimulus from fare increases would be put directly back into service upgrades – a public promise to which the MTA had better hold. In Boston, we saw rider discontent wane just a few months after a very unpopular, very large fare hike on account of the efficiency of the new smart card system and sensible monthly discounts. In London, we saw widespread public support for congestion pricing as downtown bus service succeeded in handling mode shifts.
It goes to show that broad media coverage and a communications plan founded on speaking directly to the people and their needs can induce both state investment and rider satisfaction.
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