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How can transit agencies improve their marketing strategy to reach a wider audience?

It is well known, that transit systems are believers in walking the walk. They work non-stop to provide services and cater to the needs of mobility challenged. In that effort they seldom find time to market their efforts and their services. Yet. the pillar of every successful transit business is their ability to outreach the demographic groups they provide service to. Their marketing departments are either non-existent or comprise of one (often shared) mobility manager. In today’s world, we live in an information hungry society and there lies in a latent need for an ongoing narrative between brands and consumers. This narrative is fulfilled by marketing which allows us to understand consumer behavior which in turn allows us to create better strategies and tactics to promote a service. Having a carefully crafted marketing strategy is one of top priorities when you are running a transit operation, having said that, it ranks low in the list of priorities of a transit operation. So how do we bridge the gap?

There are a wide variety of riders who would avail public transit for their individual reason. In order to increase awareness among them, public transport advertising needs to cater to their individual needs and aspirations through various marketing channels.

The Importance of Public Transport Advertising.

Public Transport advertising plays a huge role in shaping rider perspectives and generating a greater awareness in several communities. The underlying reasons why people avail various forms of public transportation are different. From urban professionals to senior citizens, environmentalists to cost savers, everyone has a unique reason to travel. Identifying their need and channeling the advertising to capture their attention and increase their trust in the transit service.

Aside from this, every marketing strategy should also spread the value public transportation provides in terms of mobility, affordability, social responsibility and convenience.

How to Improve your marketing strategy?

There is no shortage for transit advertising agencies but the fundamental tactics everyone should adopt in their strategy are tone of communication, digital presence and community outreach. Every public transportation agency should leverage these tactics to improve their awareness amongst the riders.

Transit agencies need to level up their game in terms of staying relevant to the times by incorporating good transportation scheduling software which simplify and streamline the entire operations and help them provide excellent customer service.

Digital Presence:

We live in a digital world and it’s the age of information too, so creating a space in this world is of utmost importance for every business, not just transit. Most of us are hooked on to devices throughout the day while working and we are constantly bombarded with ads based on our interests.

Website: Having an aesthetically pleasing super simple in functionality website is the best investment you can have for a transit agency. It makes room for more customer satisfaction due to awareness. Your website is your visiting card and it goes a long way. Every information, booking, scheduling, everything a rider needs will be present on your website along with the agency’s mission and vision of how they can mould their perspectives of the community.
Social Media: Time and again Social media has proved to be a powerhouse in benefits for brands to communicate with the users. Social media allows them to be part of the user’s journey by giving them a place where they can follow, get reviews, latest news and create more trust in the brand. Social media also ensures easy and quick communication with riders and transit agencies. However there is also the risk of getting negative feedback from users in a public forum. So, many brands refuse to improve their presence fearing backlash in case something goes wrong. This doesn’t negate the positive benefits of social media in any way.

Community Outreach:

Public Transportation agencies offer affordable, dependable means of transportation to several communities of people. By hosting and participating in events and campaign drives, transit agencies are able to reach the riders and showcase their dedication to the community thus enhancing their brand image.

Over the years, there has been a lot of advancement in the world of public transportation leading to a better rider experience in terms of comfort and convenience. By adapting these strategies and benefits of each platform, transit agencies should communicate the value they can provide. We are also in an advertising revolution and to keep up with the crowd, we need to enforce the latest trends while planning.

Door-to-door Transportation for Seniors in North Central MA

QRyde has partnered with the Montachusett Regional Transit Authority (MART) to deliver door-to-door transportation services to seniors across North Central Massachusetts. The program focused initially on two communities in that region. The Ipswich and Leominster Councils on Aging, as is the case with COAs in general, provide programs and support services to improve quality of life for seniors in their communities and included among those services is transportation.

While both of these Councils partner with regional transit authorities, including MART and Cape Ann Transportation Authority (CATA), they faced challenges in terms of meeting all of the transportation needs of their seniors, and coordinating both their and the Authorities’ resources. Using QRyde facilities, including ride booking and dispatch portals and driver app, the COAs were able to implement a program that simplified their transportation tasks, and provided the data necessary to meet the reporting requirements of their transportation partners. Most importantly, they were able to successfully meet the transportation needs of their seniors and do so with tools that were not burdensome for their staff and drivers.

Over past few months, QRyde has partnered with MART to implement similar programs in Sterling, Shirley, Lancaster, Bolton, and Hardwick. In each of these communities, QRyde has trained COA staff and drivers, and rolled out QRyde ride booking, dispatch, and driver app software, enabling these communities to implement responsive and reliable transportation programs for seniors in their communities. All of these COAs are now able to book and manage rides for seniors needing to get to medical appointments, go shopping, or attend social activities at Council centers. Council staff no longer have to manage the process on paper, or juggle multiple systems. The QRyde centralized system enables COA staff to track and manage rides, review ride status, reconcile ride information, and review on-time performance of drivers.

Over the next few months, QRyde and MART will roll out similar transportation programs for Councils in Ayer, Ashburnham, Templeton, Harvard, and Lunenburg. If you’d like to learn how QRyde can help your agency optimize transportation programs, click here to request a demo.

Chelsea and QRyde Collaborate to Serve Emergency Food Deliveries of 2,100 meal boxes to Veterans over 7 Months

Chelsea, MA – Today concludes seven (7) months of unique food delivery services to approximately 2100 meal boxes to veterans within the City of Chelsea, MA. Initiated during the height of Covid-19 within Massachusetts, emergency food delivery was initiated through Ben Cares, Dept. of Housing and Community Development, utilizing the QRyde Corporation of Lowell, MA. QRyde is a transportation solutions company who uses a unique services model to schedule and coordinate the deliveries through 3rd party transportation providers who provide non-emergency medical transportation services in MA

“Chelsea was proactive in identifying the Veterans’ needs”, said Ben Cares, “they were a high priority group who needed assistance”. This assistance came in the form of at home deliveries of a packaged meal. Each week, approximately 80 – 100 individual meal deliveries were made. Ben Cares said, “This not only provided emergency food and nutrition, but also provided an opportunity for contact and checking on our Veterans in a non-intrusive manner”. Any perceived health or other issues observed during the deliveries were immediately reported and checked out.

QRyde utilizes a unique software and local delivery venders to make the food distribution a success. “Our model is very versatile”, said Mital Parikh, Director of Micro-Transit Services, “whether moving people or, in this case emergency food deliveries, we can make it happen”. QRyde operates locally and nationally to work with transportation systems and public agencies to meet their transportation needs. The food and deliveries were funded through the City of Chelsea through the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission (MAPC) funds. The Chelsea Community and Housing Development Department has been active on many fronts during the pandemic for its citizens. Other activities by the City of Chelsea included transportation to seniors.

REAL Services Inc. selects HBSS for transportation and meal services software

REAL Services of South Bend, IN, provides programs that promote nutrition, self-sufficiency, education, and protection for 30,000 people in northern Indiana each year. They offer services in 12 counties across Northern Indiana, including Elkhart, Fulton, Jasper, Kosciusko, Lake, LaPorte, Marshall, Newton, Porter, Pulaski, Starke, and St. Joseph.

The staff and volunteers at REAL Services work tirelessly to provide 2,000 people in the community with access to food each day and prevent more than 5,000 older adults from moving to nursing homes to receive the care they need.

Real Services contracted with QRyde in March 2021, we’ll be providing them with our industry standard software to schedule their more than 14,000 trips annually for seniors to medical appointments and other important needs. They will also use QRyde to schedule meal delivery for their Meals on Wheels program under which REAL Services provides nutritious meals five days a week to neighbors in need.

To learn more about our new clients at REAL Services, please visit their website.

City of Chelsea and HBSS partner to provide rides and services to residents

The city of Chelsea is partnering with HBSS Connect Corp to use our services to help expand an existing emergency food distribution system which serves vulnerable families afflicted with COVID-19.

The expansion of this program will soon include providing vaccinations for residents impacted by COVID as well as other beneficial resident communities such as seniors and veterans. The program also provides low cost transportation options for residents to access employment and other vital needs.

Residents will be able to access transportation options through contracted, 3rd party providers within the city via the QRyde app, a community operated call center, as well as a QRyde call center in order to book on-demand rides.

HBSS Selected to Provide Transit Integrated Software for All Points Transit

All Points Transit (APT) of Montrose, CO recently selected HBSS for a 5 year contract to provide the QRyde software suite. The mission of All Points Transit is to promote independence and accessibility for seniors, persons with disabilities, and the general public by providing safe and reliable transportation in their service areas – Montrose County, including the communities of Montrose, Olathe, Nucla, Naturita, Norwood, Paradox, Bedrock and Redvale; and Delta County, including the communities of Delta, Cedaredge, Hotchkiss, Paonia, Orchard City and Crawford.

HBSS will provide a cloud based portal to APT which will include dispatch and scheduling services, driver tablets, Integrated Voice Response and contactless fare card system. HBSS is pleased to partner with APT on this important project. HBSS will work with the team at APT to deploy and implement the software over the summer.
To learn more about our new clients at APT, please visit their website.