Challenge:
Thousand Oaks has one of the best transit systems running for a city of its size, yet awareness for its broad and diverse services was limited and ridership was on the decline. The Transit Manager had been tasked by the City Council to turn the program around – and quickly.
Approach:
Our team recommended rebranding TO Transit (TOT) to build public awareness, interest and ridership for all services, and to develop and communicate services offered in partnership with the Ventura County Transportation Commission (VCTC) and the East County Transit Alliance (ECTA). The program required extensive use of design capabilities and content creation to succinctly organize and visualize complex route and schedule information, maintain website and build social media following.
Impact:
The rebranding was well received both internally and by the public and has served as a foundation for future efforts. Social media participation/likes/followers across Facebook and Twitter increased four-fold and outperformed other city departments, resulting in a request to pare down the program.
TOT was recognized as the 2016 Transportation Agency of the Year from the California Association for Coordinated Transportation and received the Outstanding Coordination Effort Award for leadership with the ECTA. And, overall ridership is on the rebound.