The California Association of Public Information Officials (CAPIO) gave the City of West Hollywood its top award in the marketing and communications category for the city’s innovative launch campaign for The PickUp, the free nighttime trolley service.
The PickUp (also known as the WeHo PickUp) is a trolley service that was launched as a pilot program by the city in August 2013 as an alternative to driving for people who go out on or near Santa Monica Boulevard on Friday and Saturday nights.
The CAPIO award of Excellence in Communications was presented at the CAPIO statewide conference in Santa Barbara on Thursday. Staff members from the West Hollywood’s Public Information and Economic Development offices accepted the award on behalf of the city.
The marketing and communications campaign for The PickUp was led by city staff and developed by a working group of city staffers; Visit West Hollywood, the city’s visitor’s bureau; the creative branding agency Symblaze, and Ballantines PR. The group developed a marketing approach that was flirtatious and irreverent. The goal was to reach two key target audiences: gay men ages 21-45, and straight urban hipsters — specifically converting people who consider public transit “not for them” into users of the trolley service.
As part of the pilot program assessment, the City’s Economic Development office conducted an onboard survey of riders in January 2014. From August 2013 to December 2013 there were a total of 24,879 boardings. The data reveals that The PickUp hit its target audience: 90 percent are 44 or younger; 68 percent of riders identify as gay men and 84 said they “love everything about The PickUp.” Ridership continues to average approximately 1,200 boardings per weekend.
In January 2014, in reviewing the results of a successful service and campaign launch for The PickUp, the City Council voted to continue the free trolley service. The PickUp trolley operates on Fridays and Saturdays from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. It travels along Santa Monica Boulevard in a four-mile loop with 10 stops in each direction between Robertson Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue. It arrives at stops every 15 minutes.
@Manny, actually it is not a weak comparison, because they are both subsidized. Public transportation is rarely paid for completely by a fare. And I am sure operating at night is more expensive than operating during the day, so party goers are more heavily subsided than people going to work during the day. I doubt you would be more supportive of this if there was a 50 cents fare each way which brought the roundtrip cost down to $5. It’s not really about whether there is a fare, but just about whether it receives any public funding. So, to go… Read more »
@Flores St…..yes, free things that are publicly funded need to be worthy of the funding. The Pick Up Line isn’t…..and the subway in NY, that you draw a weak comparison to, is Not free.
I don’t think the the FREE Pick Up Line necessarily needs to be gotten rid of, I just don’t think it’s “worthy” of public funding.
@wehoenthusiast, I don’t believe that we should get rid of the CityLine. I am OK with us spending money for elderly people to get around, even if it is not fully utilized. I play devil’s advocate.
@Flores I get what most of you are saying but the cityline is a valuable asset for the community here. It serves a great deal for elderly people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to go to the store, enjoy the park, pick up prescriptions and now its free! Actually I apologize reading your post again I do understand what you mean. The Trolley / pick up line etc is more of a publicity “welcome to weho” way to get around. I like it because its fun to ride but don’t see how cost effective it is by any means. The… Read more »
@Manny, I didn’t know that the motivation for the use of public transportation dictated whether or not it was worthy of funding. Most analyses I read generally on public transportation focus almost exclusively on ridership. I’ve never read anything that has ever said, “This project is going to get ridership, but we will not build it because it is for young people who could otherwise get around, and they will be drinking. We must only build projects that will be used to pick up prescriptions.” And using ridership and ridership alone, then it is obvious that it is the CityLine… Read more »
@90069…..Indeed the City Line is a bus service that needs attention. But it does serve an important need for the residents that know about it and use it.
Maybe that fancy award winning city staff should now use their excellent marketing and communication skills to better promote the City Line.
Thankfully, you all are not leading the transportation commission. I’d estimate that ridership of the Cityline is lower than the annualized ridership for the Pickup, even though the latter runs a fraction of the time. According to data I found from 2007, Cityline only had 77K rides in a year, compared to an estimated 90K for the Pickup, again at a fraction of the run time.
The last thing we need to do is expand a flagging mode of transit and demonize something that is quite popular.
@manny, appreciate what you say, The Pick up Line even to me as a resident means a safe way home, but I have a bus pass and a car, just take the bus to go out and try and be a responsible person. I also appreciate your comment about getting into a car and driving to ? Its not a deterrent to drinking and driving as some would believe, or tout it, but a way to curb traffic. Just my opinion, it seems running city line buses more often would be a better situation, Those who would never take public… Read more »
@Flores St….Public transportation is a necessity as are sidewalks and street lighting. The City Line provides a transportation service to many who can’t, or choose not to, drive so that they may go about the necessary needs of day to day life. The Pick Up Line was established to solely transport able-bodied partiers around West Hollywood bars and clubs. No, I do not think that is an obligation that a municipality should take on or make more “convenient”. @Randy….You can also say that the Pick Up Line makes it more “convenient” for people to drink MORE at more bars and… Read more »
Yes, $6 a ride also keeps some drunk drivers out of their cars. And the city probably makes up way more than that with their new extended parking meter hours, and the tax revenue from “the WeHo party scene.”
Manny, that is a very myopic view. First of all, all public transportation is subsidized to some extent. Shall we focus on the Cityline next? I think the pharmacies and grocery stores should pick up the tab for those senior citizens who use it. Or just charge the seniors. I guess there is no such thing as a free lunch. Secondly, aren’t the clubs and bars a source of revenue and employment for the city? Isn’t it the city’s job to create a better environment for business? This is no different than wider sidewalks, better lighting, etc.The businesses and users… Read more »
We should improve the pickup by extending service to Sundays and adding a mobile app to track the vehicles.
Other than that the cost is well worth it. It not only serves as safe transportation but also promotes tourism to the City. The brightly colored buses are quickly becoming WeHo’s “red trolley”; just as interesting as the rainbow crosswalks or giant jelly beans in the park.
The City deserves recognition for the successful launch and operation of the pickup line. Hopefully the continue to promote it and make improvements as the audience it is targeting is fickle.