MAX marketing aims to boost ridership
City officials hope MAX keeps its momentum into the fall when rides are no longer free.
MAX marketing aims to boost ridership City officials hope MAX keeps its momentum into the fall when rides are no longer free. Check out this story on coloradoan.com: http://noconow.co/1it8xYE
Kevin Duggan, kevinduggan@coloradoan.com Published 10:00 p.m. MT June 20, 2014 | Updated 10:08 p.m. MT June 20, 2014
A rider cheers while getting on a MAX bus at the Downtown Transit Center in Fort Collins on May 10, the first day of MAX service. (Photo: Erin Hull/The Coloradoan )Buy Photo
Marketing efforts included parties at MAX stations on opening day.
Campaigns this summer will focus on educating riders about free service ending Aug. 25.
Fort Collins has spent more than $100,000 since October marketing the new MAX bus rapid transit system.
The spending has been for posters, signs, videos and other items promoting the bus rapid-transit system and communicating to residents about how to use it. About $9,400 has been spent on television, radio and print advertising in a variety of outlets, including the Coloradoan.
And there is more to come. City officials hope MAX, which has exceeded ridership expectations in its first month of operation, can keep its momentum through the summer and into the fall when rides are no longer free.
Fares for MAX will start Aug. 25, coinciding with the start of the fall semester at Colorado State University.
Marketing campaigns will focus on teaching riders how to buy single-ride and round-trip tickets, along with multi-ride passes. The messaging also will show riders how to effectively use the entire Transfort system, said General Manager Kurt Ravenschlag.
"A lot of it will be education and letting people know the change is coming and how they will be affected," he said.
Social media and other information outlets will be used to communicate with residents about fares and online tools available for trip planning, including the downloadable Ride Transfort app for mobile devices.
So far, marketing and media coverage of MAX has paid off in terms of raising interest in the project, which was years in the making, Ravenschlag said.
Projections of MAX ridership predicted it would hit 4,000 riders a day after two years and residents became accustomed to the service, he said. Last week, including the busy Taste of Fort Collins weekend, the daily average was 3,455 riders.
Ridership could dip when the free-ride period ends, he said. But then CSU will be in session and thousands of more people will have easy access to the 5-mile-long system.
CSU students, faculty and staff may use their RamCards as passes to ride all Transfort buses, including MAX, free of charge. Student fees and CSU cover the cost of the passes.
Transfort recently signed a contract with Associated Students of CSU for $820,231 a year for student passes and a $500,000 contract with the university for faculty and staff passes.
"Our expectation is that any ridership we may lose from people who are riding MAX only because it's free we will gain back with CSU," Ravenschlag said. "We should meet or exceed what we have seen so far."
Cost to ride
MAX riders interviewed during recent afternoon trip between the Downtown and South transit centers said they would continue using the system after fares are imposed.
"I'll purchase whatever I have to keep riding it," said 20-year-old Kurtis Chow, who has used MAX every day since it started. "It will make my life so much easier."
Pat St. Onge, who lives in southwest Fort Collins, said she would not have a problem spending 60 cents — the regular Transfort fare for senior citizens — to ride MAX.
"That's nothing," she said. "I would spend more than that on gas."
St. Onge said she has used the bus a couple of times to go out to dinner with friends and shop in Old Town. She drives to the line, which parallels the BNSF Railway, and finds a place to park near the Troutman Station.
The rides to and from downtown have been comfortable, she said, with the buses fairly full. Riders often include young families with children.
St. Onge was not surprised to hear MAX was overcrowded at times during the Taste of Fort Collins.
"I'm sure it is busy with people going to special events," she said. "It's ideal for things like that."
Finding the money
Funding for MAX marketing and communications comes from a variety of sources, said Timothy Wilder, service development manager with Transfort, including federal construction grants that covered the lion's share of the $87 million project.
The city's Communications and Public Involvement office budgeted $47,000 for MAX marketing in its 2013-14 budget, according to city records. It had spent $25,167 through May 31.
Transfort contracted with Slate Communications in Fort Collins to develop marketing and branding strategies for the transit system, including MAX. Through May 31, the company had billed $69,000. The overall contract is $111,988 for 2013-14.
Charges related to MAX included $7,500 for a campaign leading up the system's activation, $7,500 for strategic planning, $7,500 for public outreach, such as coordinating events and materials publication, and $12,500 for project management.
Celebrating MAX is part of the marketing strategy. Slate Communications billed $3,000 to plan parties at MAX stations on opening day May 10 and $2,000 to plan a "thank you" event for the project's major funding partners.
Transfort kicked in another $5,000 for the station parties and $4,000 for the thank you dinner from its overall marketing budget, according to city records.
Slate Communications was started in early 2013 by three former city employees who worked in communications in various roles. Their projects included touting the economic development benefits of the Mason Corridor and notifying residents and businesses about MAX construction. The company's clients include governments along the Front Range.
Principal and founder Claire Thomas said the city has done a "pretty good" job so far in getting out the word on MAX and will continue doing so through to end of the year.
Marketing efforts are expected to include reminders that MAX is free this summer but that fares are coming, she said. The goal is to help MAX be a success.
"Everyone wants it to be the best it can be," she said.
Marketing dollars related to MAX as of May 31:
• Fort Collins Communications and Public Involvement (expenses): $25,167
• Transfort marketing (expenses): $10,041
• Slate Communications (billings): $69,000
• Total: $104,208
Source: City of Fort Collins
Read or Share this story: http://noconow.co/1it8xYE