Meeting_Body
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
OCTOBER 20, 2016
Subject/Action
SUBJECT: CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER QUARTERLY REPORT
ACTION: RECEIVE AND FILE
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
RECEIVE AND FILE the Chief Communications Officer’s Quarterly Report.
Title
RECEIVE AND FILE the Chief Communications Officer’s Quarterly Report.
Issue
ISSUE
The LA Metro Chief Communications Officer provides a quarterly update to the Board of Directors on the efforts of the Communications Department. The last CCO Quarterly Report was provided in May to include the outcome of the Potential Ballot Measure Public Input Process. This report covers accomplishments of the fourth quarter FY2016, some final year-end FY2016 data, as well as a look-ahead to the coming quarter.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
Metro’s Communications Program is implemented through the six divisions of the Communications Department: Community Relations, Customer Relations, Customer Programs and Services, Government Relations, Marketing and Public Relations. The department’s four overarching goals are:
• Educate and engage the public about mobility options and Metro programs, projects and services
• Enhance the customer experience
• Maximize the Metro brand
• Build a constituency for transportation
These goals drive the strategies and activities developed for each functional area of the department.
Measure M Public Information Process
The Communications Team continues the public information effort for Measure M. From June through early November, Metro staff will have attended some 250 community presentations, events and festivals to educate the public about Measure M.
The public information process has also included a variety of tactics including bus, rail and shelter ads; billboards; print advertising; news blogs and articles; press events showcasing Metro’s progress, informational materials; web updates; social media campaigns; and educational videos. Staff has also tracked the cities and organizations taking a position on Measure M.
APTA Annual Meeting
LA Metro hosted the APTA Annual Conference at LA Live September 12-14. This year some 2,700 participants from around the country descended on Los Angeles for this year’s conference. Metro provided over 100 volunteers to help with everything from registration to way finding, as well as speaker coordination and participation on numerous education panels throughout the conference. We also coordinated and executed 15 Technical Tours covering locations like Division 13 and the Harbor to Metro Art Programs and the Union Station Mater Plan. The feedback received during the Annual Conference wrap-up session was overwhelmingly positive, with committee members complementing Metro employees for being some of the most gracious and friendly hosts ever at an annual conference.
Marketing Campaigns
Major campaigns from the fourth quarter include the Expo Extension grand opening, Crenshaw/LAX Halfway There event, public education on Measure M, the closure and construction of the Patsaouras Plaza project, Metro BikeShare, and a “Pay Your Fare” campaign.
Social Media
Metro’s social media channels continued strong quarter-to-quarter organic growth and engagement. For Q4, the Facebook page gained 3,000 page likes and the Twitter account added 4,100 followers. Metro’s Facebook page delivered over 5.1 million impressions and our videos were viewed over 264,000 times. We are not just gaining followers, we are also delivering content that generates likes, shares and comments from our riders. Daily engagement with our Facebook content is typically 2-3 times higher than London and New York’s transit agency pages.
For FY16 as a whole:
• Facebook - 58,137 total fans, up 35,020 fans or a 151% increase year over year.
• Twitter - 58,598 total followers, up 23,184 followers or 65% increase year over year.
We’ve also continued our efforts to use social media to learn more about riders, former riders and non-riders. Working with Metro’s Ridership Taskforce and research team, we launched the first rider survey promoted via Facebook with positive results. We were able to complete over 10,000 surveys in just under three days at a cost of $.36 per completed survey. Our traditional surveying methods cost approximately $25 per completed survey. This quarter, we plan to replicate this method to survey Orange Line riders and use the results to pilot marketing campaigns to increase ridership on the line.
Safety Outreach
From April to June 2016, the Transit Safety Programs (TSP) staff reached nearly 20 million people through safety presentations, events, tours, outreach materials and ad impressions. TSP staff conducted VIP tours in preparation for the Opening of the Expo Line Phase 2 extension, supported a Media Relations Safety Event in April at the 26th St/Bergamot Station with interviews of Rail Safety Ambassadors, Corporate Safety, and Operations staff. In preparation for summer months, TSP distributed over 200,000 pieces of safety tips literature to the communities along Blue, Expo and Gold Lines. In June, six “Safetyville” videos, focusing on safety tips, were released and distributed through YouTube, trending around the country on media circuits and other social media outlets and received over one million views during the first week.
Public Relations
As part of the Communications Department, the Public Relations division establishes and maintains a high level of communication and outreach about the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) to key audiences. The areas of digital media, special events and media relations all contributed to the success of the division in FY 16.
Media Relations
• Issued 192 news releases
• Conducted 37 news conferences
• Responded to more than 1,700 incoming media inquiries
• There were 5,860 domestic mentions on broadcast television and radio valued at $29,550,408
• Generated 7,817 print and digital news stories on Metro-related activities valued at $2.4 billion in the U.S.
• Domestically, for print and digital news, the reach was 358,214,580
Map: Metro media coverage by state publications and websites
• Internationally, a total of 559 stories were tracked and valued at $4.9 billion.
• For international print and digital news, the reach was 535,163,807.
Special Event Coverage
Gold Line Extension opening coverage was extensive, with domestic 2,223 mentions
• Expo Line opening coverage was also extensive, with 1,829 domestic and international mentions
• Expo Line coverage reached 19,973,778 readers and generated an ad value of $381,096 internationally, according to the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board
Digital Media
The Source had 1,116,380 readers with 3,137,179 page views
• El Pasajero, our Spanish-language blog, reached 105,344 readers with 114,931 page views
• Responded to 550 blog post comments
• Issued 5,500 service alerts
• Increased followers on Metro’s Twitter Account by 23,850 for a total of 58,000 followers
• Reached 20,000 follows on Metro’s Service Alert Account
• Reached 21,000 followers on Metro’s Instagram Account, which was named the best Instagram account by Wired.com magazine
• Live video event coverage was expanded using Periscope and Facebook Live
Special Events
Metro held numerous special events in FY16 including the 10-Year Anniversary of the Orange Line, the Crenshaw/LAX Tunnel Boring Machine Event, the Crenshaw Halfway There Community Celebration, the Gold Line Extension Grand Opening and five station celebrations in Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, Irwindale and Azusa; and the Expo Line Extension Grand Opening and five station celebrations in the City of Los Angeles and Santa Monica. Highlights:
• Opening ceremonies for the 11.5-mile Gold Line extension were followed by parties along the alignment, as thousands jumped aboard in celebration. More than 500 people attended the opening ceremonies and more than 30,000 took advantage of the free rides.
• The opening of the Expo Line to Santa Monica was celebrated with two days of free rides. More than 800 people attended the opening ceremonies of the 6.6-mile segment. More than 50,000 celebrated with free rides and station parties.
• Transformation through Transportation drew nearly 400 business and industry leaders for a groundbreaking industry forum at the J.W. Marriott in downtown Los Angeles.
Promotions
Metro partnered with more than 20 organizations through the Destination Discounts Program
• Highlights:
o FYF Partnership - 27% of festival goers took Expo Line to the event. About 76% increase in ridership when doing a weekend to weekend comparison.
o Air + Style Partnership - 10% of festival goers took Expo Line to the event. About 12% increase in ridership when doing a weekend to weekend comparison.
Website
• The web team developed a comprehensive Measure M web page with interactive maps allowing the public to see projects in their area and descriptions of the projects. The Measure M page also provides links to various resources including the expenditure plan documents and a list of current and future Local Return funding for each city in the county.
• Metro’s new website was launched for beta testing and public commenting at beta.metro.net.
• Features include: new Trip Planner, new alert/advisory system, dynamic maps, new website design, and integration of real time data
• Website will be in testing until the end of the year. It will become the new metro.net in January.
• Approximately $24,695.00 in advertising revenue was generated from web and mobile platforms last quarter.
Community Meetings and Events
In Q4, Community and Municipal Affairs has represented the agency at more than 200 meetings and events, reaching more than 153,000 people. The staff provided nearly 50 tours to introduce new riders to the system and reached 94,000 people about Metro rail maintenance projects. The team continues to keep local elected officials and their staff updated and engaged on Metro programs and projects.
Construction Relations
Purple Line Extension
• La Brea Decking: Announce to mid-Wilshire area, and LA in general, that Wilshire Blvd around La Brea would be closed for 22 weekends to install deck panels.
o Campaign included:
§ 30,000 tri-folds mailed to surrounding area to share detour routes
§ 30,000 postcards mailed when we entered the last phase of detour routes
§ Advertising in 10 local papers, 15 radio stations
§ 100% growth on Facebook through paid ads
§ First Door to Door outreach campaign in Metro history. Partnered with Chrysalis to reach approximately 2,500 residences and businesses in immediate area to share decking and contact information.
§ 70+ meetings/briefings held in community (30,000 notices walked to PLE area in advance on any Metro sponsored meetings)
§ Weekly email updates sent to community
Press and Special Events
• La Brea Decking Press Event, June 3 - Announcement of 22 weekend closures starting June 10. Metro Board Member Jaquelyn Dupont-Walker MC’d with comments by Councilman David Ryu, Metro CEO Phil Washington and LADOT’s Seleta Reynolds.
Community Meetings and Events: Metro Sponsored
May 21: Section 1 Construction Community Meeting
May 4: Section 3 Community Update Meeting
Non-Metro Meetings: 39 community meetings attended
Eat/Shop/Play
• April 6 Lunch Meet Up: Spare Tire
• May 20 Lunch Meet Up: Fairfax Food Trucks
Safety Outreach
• Presentations on Construction Safety
o June 1: Third Street Elementary
o June 3: Wilshire Crest Elementary
o June 9: Hancock Park Elementary
Regional Connector
• Provided outreach to support long-term construction activities at the following locations:
o 1st/Alameda full weekend closures in Little Tokyo to perform utility relocation, pile and deck installation
o 1st/Alameda traffic reconfiguration and lane reductions in Little Tokyo to perform utility relocation, pile and deck installation
o Lane reductions on 2nd St in Little Tokyo to perform grouting
• Provided outreach to residences in the vicinity on the excavation and spoil removal process at the 1st/Alameda and the 2nd/Hope station areas
• Provided outreach to downtown L.A./Financial District visitors and stakeholders on pile installation along Flower St between 4th St and 5th St
• Educated the general public on the project’s application to remove 13 trees
• Distributed 57 construction notices project-wide covering cut and cover activities, permeation grouting, tree removal application, utility relocation, station excavation and installation of geotechnical instrumentation
• Obtained community support to secure or extend nighttime variance permits throughout the project alignment.
Community Meetings and Briefings
• Held two construction update community meetings attended by over 50 people
• Provided update on the status of construction at nine Community Leadership Council area specific committees
• Held 20 construction coordination meetings with stakeholder throughout the project
• Hosted a think-tank with Little Tokyo’s Marketing & Advertising consultant group, (assigned to develop unique small business mitigations), and adjacent Arts’ District business leaders. The discussion centered around methods to promote businesses and awaken the public to unique services of both communities without creating a competitive environment. Leaders agreed that a sound way to begin was to identify businesses within Little Tokyo and the Arts District that had public appeal and could attract visitors across community boundaries. Result: created the first Little Tokyo/Arts District Self-Guided Urban Adventure for dog owners looking for services and activities for their pets. In addition to hosting this tour on the one-stop visitor information site GoLittleTokyo.com, this also marked a new beginning of small business cross-promotion within two distinct communities adjacent to Metro’s future 1st/Central station.
Construction Safety Awareness Training
• Conducted outreach to approximately 75 local residents and stakeholders through safety presentations and distribution of outreach materials.
• Presented construction safety tips to approximately 40 community members at a project-wide construction update community meeting held at the Museum of Contemporary Art.
• Presented a workshop in partnership with the Little Tokyo Service Center to approximately 35 senior residents at Little Tokyo Towers Residences. The presentation covered pedestrian safety on 2nd St during grouting activities and the newly configured Little Tokyo/Arts District Station. A Japanese and Korean interpreter was present during the meeting to translate. All materials handed out were provided in English, Japanese and Korean.
• Coordinated additional workshops with Angelus Plaza Senior Center and Little Tokyo Service Center.
Tunnel Boring Machine Naming & Art Contests Campaign
• Metro launched an educational campaign in February 2016 to engage local Pre-K through 12th grade students in naming the Regional Connector Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) through a naming and art contest. In Q4, Metro Community Relations continued outreach efforts to local downtown area schools and youth organizations with TBM and contest workshops that reached over 500 students. Over 300 submissions were received for the TBM Naming & Art Contest, which ended on June 1st. A judging panel, consisting of members of the Regional Connector Community Leadership Council, assisted in selecting the top 10 names and illustrations that would be voted amongst the public in summer 2016. TBM voting workshops were also scheduled for July 2016 with Angelus Plaza Senior Center and Little Tokyo Service Center to include local seniors in the voting process. A social media campaign was developed on Twitter to promote awareness about the TBM and the naming and art contests. The campaign generated nearly 300,000 impressions with social media audiences and enhanced public interest in the Regional Connector.
Crenshaw/LAX
• Harriet, the Crenshaw/LAX Transit Project Tunnel Boring Machine, broke through the wall of the Crenshaw/MLK Station on August 22nd, completing the first tunnel segment. Breakthough is anticipated at the Leimert Park Station in late October, which will complete the first of two mile-long, bored tunnels connecting the Expo/Crenshaw, Crenshaw/MLK and Leimert Park Stations.
• On August 15, Construction Relations hosted Bishop Charles E. Blake, Sr., Pastor of West Angeles Church of God in Christ, and his leadership team on an underground tour and site visit of the future Expo/Crenshaw Station on the Crenshaw/LAX Line. For the first time, Bishop Blake and his team had the opportunity to see construction progress first-hand.
• On September 8th, Construction Relations worked with Walsh Shea Corridor Constructors and Metro Diversity and Economic Opportunity Department to provide an underground tour of the Crenshaw/MLK Station for Women’s Construction Boot Camp graduates. The participants had the opportunity to see construction progress, talk to workers on site and learn more about construction careers.
• Construction Relations coordinated a business walk by Metro CEO Phil Washington on July 22nd in the Park Mesa Heights community. Phil met with 20 local business owners impacted by construction and was able to get valuable feedback on Metro’s mitigation programs.
• In June Metro Construction Relations resumed monthly Construction Update Community Meetings in the Park Mesa Heights At-Grade Segment to update stakeholders on construction progress, mitigation measures and discuss issues of importance to the community.
Community Leadership Council (CLC) Meetings & Events
• Elected new CLC Co-Chair during June 20 Quarterly Meeting. Armen Ross, President Crenshaw Chamber of Commerce, now serves alongside Arna Fulcher as Crenshaw/LAX Community Leadership Council Co-Chair representing the northern segment of the alignment.
• CLC Quality of Life Workgroup Hard Hat Construction Tour was held on August 29 at the Crenshaw/LAX Project Office. Over 45 CLC Members and community stakeholders were in attendance.
• CLC Special Projects Workgroup held an Artist Talk special event on August 25 at Union Station. The event consisted of an art update with Metro Art Director Maya Emsden, VIP artist tour of union station and artist talk with Hyde Park Artist Todd Gray, who provided an introduction to a new exhibition.
• CLC Community Engagement Workgroup held a meeting on August 22 in conjunction with the Leimert Park Stakeholders, to provide an update on the Leimert Park 20/20 Vision Plan, Prop 1C Crenshaw Streetscape Plan and Crenshaw/LAX Streetscape Plan at the Vision Theater.
• In partnership with Supervisor Ridley-Thomas, and in conjunction with the Empowerment Congress in honor of its 25th Anniversary, CLC Members attended a performance of “Through the Looking Glass” at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City on August 13. It was developed and performed by the residents of Montebello and Leimert Park.
• CLC Special Projects Workgroup held a community luncheon to introduce three of the artists who are creating site-specific artworks for the Crenshaw/LAX Transit Project. Artists Kenturah Davis (Downtown Inglewood Station), Kim Schoenstadt (Fairview Heights Station), and Geoff McFetridge (Westchester/Veterans Station) presented an overview of their artwork for their respective stations.
Social Media and Eat, Shop and Play Local
• The CLAX, PLE, or RC new media campaigns have been focused providing content directly to those who live, work, or travel along the areas impacted by our construction activity. Our campaign has been using Waze, Facebook, and Twitter. Construction Relations has spent $7,304 and we’ve reached out to 337,142 people on Facebook.
• Waze advertisements continue to secure a reach of over 150,000 people every month, per project. Those who use the app and drive by any of our station locations under construction are receiving popup advertisements alerting them to the location of the station under construction, and the link shows the user how to access construction information. The Crenshaw/LAX project ads, located adjacent to LAX were the most productive, accounting for over 30% of the advertisement views.
• Regional Connector Facebook advertisements during Nisei Week included links to encourage potential Nisei Week attendees to “Go Metro” to Nisei Week, and to sign up for our construction notification emails. Our non-English advertisements performed much better, when compared to our English advertisements. Spanish advertisements for Facebook also performed better than average on the Purple Line Extension Facebook page.
• An email campaign was launched on Twitter for the Crenshaw/LAX, Purple Line Extension, and Regional Connector projects. Multi-lingual advertisements have been developed with modest amounts of funding assigned to the campaigns, encouraging Twitter users who live, work, or travel along the areas impacted by our construction activity to sign up for our construction notifications.
• Three Lunch Meet Ups were held, one on each project. Each averaged about 30 attendees.
• Approximately 15 impacted businesses were highlighted and offered space to sell goods at the Crenshaw/LAX Halfway There event.
• Held the first Breakfast Meet Up in Leimert Park which drew about 50 people.
Other Capital Improvement Projects
• North Hollywood Underpass Project Grand Opening - Metro’s latest effort to build safer pedestrian connections on its system. The new tunnel should eliminate the mad dash across busy Lankershim Boulevard to catch a bus or train. Additionally, the tunnel is expected to save riders four to five minutes when walking from an Orange Line bus to the Red Line platform - a substantial savings that will help Metro patrons make their bus and rail connections.
Government Relations
Federal and State
• Metro’s Federal Government Relations unit has continued to closely track several major federal grant opportunities. Recently, the team worked to secure a $15 million federal TIGER grant for the Rosecrans/Marquardt grade crossing project and a federal Bus and Bus Facilities grant in the amount of $10.5 million for new CNG buses and bus facilities to serve the South Bay and Gateway Cities.
• Staff continues to work with the U.S. Department of Transportation to secure a $1.2 billion FFGA and a $307 million TIFIA loan for the Westside Purple Line Extension Section 2 later this year.
• The Federal team continues to closely track the Federal Fiscal Year 2017 appropriations process to secure $300 million in New Starts funding for our rail transit projects.
• State and Federal GR staff has provided a number of legislative briefings to the State Legislative Delegation, the Congressional Delegation and partners in the Administration on details related to Measure M.
• On the State front, Metro was awarded more than $109 million in State Cap-and-Trade grant funds for upgrades to the Red and Purple Lines and new transportation projects, like the Airport Metro Connector/96th Street Station project from the State of California.
• Metro continues to advance our Small Business Prime program, a breakthrough initiative that paves the way for small businesses to bid and win contracts up to $5 million. This program was codified in state law this year, after the successful passage of Board-approved Assembly Bill 2690 carried by Assemblymember Sebastian Ridley-Thomas.
Customer Relations and Customer Programs and Services
Customer Relations
• Answered 547,467 calls in the 4th quarter on 323.GOMETRO compared to 484,391 calls answered in the 3rd quarter.
• Average wait time for customer calls from April-June 2016 was 16 seconds.
• During FY16 the department answered 2,217,528 calls with an average wait time of 15 seconds.
Customer Programs and Services
• Processed 25,099 Reduced Fare applications in the FY16 4th quarter
(seniors/disabled/student K-12/college) compared to 34,404 for FY16 3rd quarter
Net TAP and token revenue sales
• FY16 3rd quarter for ALL Customer Centers - $1,623.092
• FY16 4th quarter for ALL Customer Centers - $1,803,156
Mobile Customer Center
Customer Programs and Services developed a pilot program for a Metro Mobile Customer Center, which launched on July 27. The mobile center brings Metro customer services to the community to make it easier for them to apply for reduced fare cards and buy TAP products. The program has started by visiting senior centers around the county.
U-PASS
The U-Pass Program continues to grow. The U-Pass period for fall semester began August 29, which was also the first week of school for most colleges. In the first three weeks of the pass period, the first four participating schools sold over 5,200 U-Passes. Those four initial schools were California State University Northridge (CSUN), Los Angeles Trade Technical College (LATTC), Rio Hondo College (Rio), and Pasadena City College. In October, the California Institute of Technology (CalTech), West Coast University (WCU), and American Career College (ACC) joined the U-Pass Program and Santa Monica College (SMC) started a test group of 100 students with intent to expand to full participation for approximately 20,000 students in spring semester. The total projected U-Pass sales so far for fall semester is 5,840.
See data below and attached.
Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS
The Communications Team will continue the education program for Measure M. Following the Nov. 8 vote, the team will report the next steps following the results of the election. Communications plans to update the agency’s Crisis Communications Plan and continue to work toward implementing a universal customer response management/communications tracking system.
Prepared_by
Prepared by: Pauletta Tonilas, Chief Communications Officer, (213) 922-3777
Reviewed_By
Reviewed by: Pauletta Tonilas, Chief Communications Officers, (213) 922-3777
