Westchester County Unveils New Public Education Program for Senior Citizens
Introducing Senior B.E.A.T — Be Educated About Transit Program
SUMMARY
The Westchester County Department of Public Works & Transportation retained DDRPR to create a public education campaign called Senior B.E.A.T — Be Educated About Transit Program, which aims to educate the Westchester senior population on how to use the Bee-Line Bus System as a viable travel option in order to “broaden their travel possibilities and restore a sense of involvement in their community.” Senior B.E.A.T. is a program of the Westchester County Department of Public Works & Transportation in cooperation with the Office for Senior Programs and Services and with funding from the New York State Department of Transportation.
CHALLENGES & OBJECTIVES
- Increase senior citizen ridership on Westchester County buses and trains
- Get seniors on board with the benefits of using public transportation instead of driving and persuade them to develop enthusiasm for taking public transportation
- Break through the clutter and reach seniors with dynamic messages and information that “speaks” to them
- Ensure that seniors develop a full knowledge of the passenger skills needed to take public transportation including safety rules, bus and train accessible features, etc.
STRATEGIES
- Persuade seniors that using public transportation is more optimum by building relationships within key Senior Centers.
- Inform and educate seniors about using the transportation system (reading schedules, finding stations and stops and planning their trip) by creating printed and video materials, designed to appeal to seniors and with an understanding of the senior experience
DDRPR ACTION
We designed various visual elements to serve as the cornerstone of our campaign:
- An instructional video
- An educational brochure
- A trivia game
- A crossword puzzle
- Once our materials were completed, we coordinated a press conference at the Doyle Senior Center in New Rochelle with attendance by local politicians and dignitaries, as well as key local media.
- We developed press releases and media advisories that featured information about the campaign
- We provided the Westchester County Department of Public Works & Transportation with a “turn-key” toolkit containing templates, CDs with all graphic layouts, software types, formats and guidelines for printing.
Research
Focus groups and surveys were conducted in local senior centers throughout Westchester as key to the development of all video and printed materials. We recruited eight participants at each Senior Center and all participants were awarded a round-trip Metro Card as incentive. DDRPR’s comprehensive research methodology revealed that the majority of Westchester seniors would like to become more independent and would prefer to do their daily errands alone without having to rely on others for their travel. The senior respondents also stated that driving themselves was of great concern to them because of physical declines in their vision, hearing and motor skills. Although most of the seniors agreed that driving themselves is now often problematic, they still expressed a resistance to bus travel due to the misperceptions they had about bus travel and their lack of information about the basics of bus ridership in Westchester County (i.e., bus stops, fares, routes, etc.).
We surveyed these seniors following our focus groups, presentations, video showing and the distribution of print materials. The response was all positive with the majority stating that they would now like to try riding on the bus, if they hadn’t before.
Our Video
We produced an engaging 10-minute video that provided a colorful and compelling overview of the Senior B.E.A.T. program with information about bus routes, safety rules and Reduced Fair Metro Card usage. This video featured interviews with seniors, key program leaders and bus drivers, as well as a look at seniors getting on and off the bus, at the bus stop and enjoying a bus ride with friends.
Brochure/Workbook
We produced a pocket-sized printed workbook/brochure that highlighted the Senior B.E.A.T. presentation. The brochure featured photos of seniors riding the bus, waiting at a bus stop, getting on/off the bus to reinforce familiarity and comfort, as well as a “Plan a Trip” lesson plan. In addition, the materials and copy, as well as the graphic look of the brochure were used to create a PowerPoint presentation for later use by representatives from the Westchester County Department of Transportation for use in their presentations to seniors at Senior Centers throughout the County.
TRIVIA GAME PAMPHLET
We created a trivia game on a card with a “map design” that featured questions about favorite Westchester destinations with multiple choice answers to include corresponding buses and routes. (i.e. Q. What is the name of the movie theater in Northern Westchester that plays artistic and foreign films, and also offers film classes and speakers?
A. Jacob Burns Film Center, located in Pleasantville, NY, Buses #6 and #19.
The front of the card served as a map with “favorite destinations” marked and the back side of the card featured important ride and route info.
CROSSWORD PUZZLE
We created a crossword puzzle that featured words and information that reinforced what was learned during the video/discussion presentation.
PRESS CONFERENCE/MEDIA CAMPAIGN
We organized a press conference to unveil the Senior B.E.A.T. program. An anchor from News 12 was the Emcee for the event, which was extremely well-attended by many elected officials and dignitaries. A press release that announced the program and provided info about the materials was developed, along with individually-tailored pitch letters and media advisories.
DDRPR IMPACT
Our program was extremely effective and a great success. Ridership on the buses was recorded before and after the campaign, and showed a significant increase in readership. In addition, we measured the effectiveness of our campaign with before and after opinion surveys, showing that the senior respondents had learned from our materials and were more convinced to use public transportation.
