HSTP Region 8 Meeting September 12 th , 2019 Kristen Gisondi, HSTP - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Champaign County Regional Planning Commission

HSTP Region 8 Meeting

September 12th, 2019 Kristen Gisondi, HSTP Coordinator

HRC of Edgar and Clark, Marshall, Ill.

Marketing Plans

• Rural transit agencies serve challenging

market

• High need, low population density
• Costly to provide service
• Demand-response, less fixed-route
• Older population on average
• Difficult for some users to go alone
• Articulating and measuring benefits and

gains can bring partners to the table

• Service contracts

Marketing Plans

• Low-cost methods
• Emails
• Newsletters
• Website
• Social media (including small ads)
• Posters/brochures at businesses,

top destinations

• Attending community events
• High-cost methods
• Newspaper
• Radio
• Direct mailing
• How are transit agencies

marketing themselves?

• ETA’s 2016 transit agency

survey:

• 8% use radio
• 7% use billboards
• 6% of agencies use print

advertising

• 6% of agencies use social

media

• 4% use television
• 1% of agencies use

vehicle/station signage

Marketing Plans

• Low-cost marketing
• Have current staff develop
• wn designs
• Use free resources such as

NADTC campaign 

• Create materials that will

last a while

• Direct people to your website for

more specific service information

• Service specific information is

good too, just not long-term

Marketing Plans

Social media

• Cheap or free
• Get partners to follow and

share

• Organizations who use your

services

• Agencies you contract with
• Municipalities
• Be consistent with content
• Follow some other transit

agencies for inspiration

• “Faucet, not a firehose.”
• Some sites are better than
• thers
• Pew Research Center, 2018
• 18-29 year olds = highest use
• Race and gender not factors

for usage

• Facebook and YouTube have

highest use

• Instagram and Twitter have half the

use of Facebook and YouTube

Marketing Plans

• Content
• Use infographics
• Relevant interesting data
• Example: statistically, using

public transit is 9 times safer than driving

• Car crash fatalities are higher

in rural areas

• Keep data relevant to your

agency

Marketing Plans

• Content
• Awards (bus operator of the

month, service award, etc. )

• Special days
• Holidays, Transit Driver

appreciation day

• Service changes
• Dump the Pump day
• Advertise events
• Travel training, attending

community events, offering service to community events, etc.

• Photos of the service and bus
• Keep colors for all marketing

consistent with agency colors

Source: USDOT

Marketing Plans

• Main takeaways
• What people need to know
• What services are available
• How they work
• How they can meet their needs
• What methods do you find

most effective for reaching potential riders?

Driver Recruitment

• Why is hiring and

retention important?

• Potentially less turn-
• ver and time spent

training

• Promote openings on

social media

• Post frequently
• Use multiple sources
• Indeed, LinkedIn,

Ziprecruiter, etc.

• Post job openings

physically at schools and

• n buses

Driver Recruitment

• Create a realistic job

preview video

• Hire an intern or use tech-

saavy staff to create video

• Feature your drivers

talking about what it’s like to work for your

• rganization, and why

they do it

• Try to represent a diverse

group to appeal to potential recruits from different backgrounds

• Passengers may not want to

be filmed

• Simulate staff as passengers

instead

Driver Recruitment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LGZX3Tw2ds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeoh-MKVNAg

Driver Recruitment

• Employee referral

program

• Cash bonus to employee for

referral

• Limited budget options for

employee incentive program

• Thank-you gift cards for “above

and beyond the call of duty” performance when it happens

• Celebrating special milestones

(including employment anniversaries and birthdays)

• Occasionally surprising

employees with pizza/food to express appreciation

• Benefits
• Statistically reduces costs
• Increases retention
• Higher quality of hires

Driver Recruitment

• Salary scale
• Average bus driver salary in

Illinois is $15.86 an hour

• Included school bus drivers and

Chicago

• Close to same across nation
• BLS
• Average for rural bus

transportation - $19.03

• Average “other passenger

transit” - $16.80

• May need to look at the

salary scale

• Working as a transit driver

can be a very satisfying job

• If money is their top priority,

they might not be a good candidate for the job

• But still need to pay a

reasonable wage

Driver Recruitment

• Some organizations that

train new hires to get their CDLs requires them to work a minimum number

• f days
• 90 days to a year
• Otherwise reimburse the
• rganization for their

training

• Alternative: pay higher wage
• nce they receive CDL
• Ongoing training
• Opportunities to help

employees improve, grow, and stay engaged

• Consider cross-training,

mentoring, and coaching

• Employee recognition
• Appraisals
• Give notice for formal reviews
• Small checks
• Post it notes under hoods or other

inspection areas

Driver Recruitment

• What issues do you face in

your region?

• What methods do you use

when recruiting?

Breakout subcommittees

Service and Training Vehicle Maintenance Community Outreach

*Discussion sheets in folders

2020 Meeting Schedule

• March 19, 2020
• Lifespan Center, Charleston
• June 18, 2020
• Arcola Center, Arcola
• September 17, 2020
• Brookens Administrative

Center, Urbana

• *December 10, 2020
• CRIS Rural Mass Transit,

Danville

• Third Thursday of the

month

• 10am to noon

Report Card Data Needed

• Central Illinois Public Transit
• CTF
• Developmental Services

Center

• Shelby County Community

Services

• Swann Special Care Center
• Please do not forget to send

me your annual certifications as well!

• Due September 30th

Agency Updates

• Current conditions
• Accomplishments
• Opportunities for coordination
• New programs/activities
• Other noteworthy information

Upcoming Events

• Illinois Public Transit Association Fall Conference
• September 18-20th
• Rosemont
• RTAC Driver Training in Urbana
• Emergency procedures, passenger assistance, defensive driving
• Saturday, September 28th
• 8am to 4pm
• IDOT Vehicle Maintenance Forum in Springfield
• Wednesday, October 9th
• 9am to noon

Next Meeting: December 10th

SAIL Decatur, IL