Five Thing StarTran Could Do To Increase Ridership
While I think the increased regularity with which buses will make the rounds under the proposals of the Transit Development Plan are a good thing, I generally don't think the plan goes far enough to encourage new ridership. I have a few ideas...
- Squash the meme that public transportation, StarTran in particular, is an entitlement program for the poor. Little things make a difference: stop advertising WIC and child support enforcement and addiction recovery programs on the buses. Don't reinforce the idea that a self-sufficient member of society is stooping to ride the bus.
- Remind policy makers that reliable, comfortable, and safe public transportation is among the things sought by young, creative, highly-educated professionals. According to the much-touted Angelou Report, these are people Lincoln should be courting. The perception is, real cities have good transit. Young, highly-educated professionals are looking for real cities.
- Think outside the box, and come up with some special promotional
routes to and from places people want to be at times they want to
be there, and make public transportation to and from recreational
and cultural opportunities a viable option. Run a route Friday night
and Saturday afternoon between the Grand and SouthPointe, and call
it the Cinema Express. Run a bus back and forth between the malls on
Saturday and Sunday. Run it through downtown if you really want to.
Establish
Park and Ride
routes for Lied Center events. - Position StarTran as the Green alternative to the auto culture in Lincoln. Strive to become greener, and continuously remind us all about it.
- Self-promote shamelessly: consider live radio remotes from buses during drive times. Give special fares to people bearing a ticket stub from the Lied or a movie theater. Free-ride Fridays. A First Friday Gallery Walk shuttle. Work to make the bus a part of the Lincoln scene.
And while I'm asking for a pony, how about public wifi on buses?
When a business is struggling to get in the black, you don't cut services and raise prices, though you might try to cut costs where possible. No, you promote the business to draw awareness and try to provide the best product you can so people will want it. StarTran doesn't have control over its own purse strings, so it's up to policy makers to make that happen.
If you don't ride the bus already, what would get you to consider alternate modes of transportation?
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