Route-Specific Transit Marketing in Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN

Abstract

The Minneapolis/St. Paul Transit Marketing Demonstration involved the administration of a combination of marketing techniques on five selected transit routes. The approach employed differed from most previous marketing demonstrations in that 1) pricing mechanisms were used in conjunction with direct mail information dissemination, and 2) the overall approach was route-specific, rather than system-wide, in focus. The marketing "treatment" period lasted from February to May 1984, although free and reduced fare coupons distributed/sold during this period were valid through the end of that year. The actual marketing strategies tested in the demonstration were as follows: 1) two direct mailings of a newsletter (called Rider's Digest) containing route-specific service information and a single-use free fare coupon (the When-You-Need-It Card) to households along each of the five treatment routes; 2) availability of prepaid fare discount cards (six rides for $3.75--the price of five peak-hour rides), called Passports, for purchase at designated retail outlets along four of the routes; and 3) availability of the Passport for purchase through the mail by households along the fifth route. Roughly 110,000 Rider's digests were mailed out (55,000 in each mailing). Based on a comparison of the results of a post-treatment survey to those of a pre-treatment survey, the demonstration marketing strategies had no apparent effect on target corridor residents' knowledge--and usage--of transit. However, the level of corridor residents' familiarity with the local transit service was generally very high before the demonstration began. The demonstration also had no significant impact on weekday and Saturday treatment route ridership, although it may have had a positive effect on Sunday/holiday ridership. The general absence of an impact on ridership is corroborated by the survey results, which revealed that, overall, respondents used transit no more often following the demonstration than before it.