This year, a study confirmed what Boston area residents have long known—Boston has the worst rush hour traffic in the United States. As Boston’s NPR station WBUR recently reported, the traffic is so bad that nearly 1 in 5 voters have considered moving out of the region altogether. 

At its highest level, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) weaves together enclosed stations, exclusive lanes physically separated from traffic, pre-paid fare collection, smart use of real-time data, and beautiful design to rival the speed, capacity, and comfort of the best rail lines. It has been identified as part of a larger initiative in the Greater Boston area to advocate for viable new transportation options.  BRT has been gaining momentum since the 1970s, nearly quadrupling worldwide in just the past 10 years, as its benefits are tested and proven. As BRT spreads globally, cities in the United States are looking to BRT to improve mobility and travel times, modernize transit systems, and spur development. By increasing capacity in transit corridors and providing faster and more attractive transportation options, BRT can reduce the number of cars on the road and idling in traffic. Combined with more efficient operations, BRT can improve air quality in cities and help reach CO2 emissions reduction goals. 

Following on the success of BostonBRT in 2017, 2018 saw the expansion of BRT pilots into several other neighborhoods of Greater Boston: Cambridge/Watertown, Everett, and Arlington. Building on our brand work for BostonBRT 2017, we created a new set of brand guidelines and marketing strategies that encompassed each of the new municipalities yet distinguished them individually through brand colors and unique community initiatives. At the heart of everything was our goal to show how BRT can connect the community. The result: a campaign full of community engagement and a more beautiful bus ride than ever before.      

Activations included gifting t-shirts to riders and local community. Branded pedicabs provided rides for a "closer look" at the selected routes for BRT pilots at the launch events. All printing and production for the initiative was sourced locally putting additional funds back into businesses of the respective communities.

The City of Everett was piloting 3 key elements of the BRT system—dedicated lane, level boarding and transit signal priority. With the negative stigma of the bus, the challenge was to first bring a more progressive perspective to the bus rider experience as a pathway to create interest about the initiative and gain support for the implementation of the system. The bus stop was fully immersed in a lush tapestry of 3000+ fresh cut flowers to introduce the unexpected—a beautiful and “human” side of public transportation which too often is just relegated to process rather than experience and design.  Against this backdrop, we created a campaign that answered the question, “Why wouldn’t we make the bus stop a pleasant place to wait, even for a day?”  The bus stop Flowerbomb idea was conceived and designed using a universal sign of caring (the giving of flowers), conveying the message that the City of Everett cares about its constituents. As part of the activation, bouquets of flowers were created on site and personally handed to riders, bus drivers and passersby from the community, including policemen, firemen and local businesses.

The Flowerbomb was staged one month after the launch event which provided a new opportunity for media and PR. Beautiful imagery enhanced social media engagement and sharing news of the initiative. The theme was "A beautiful place to wait".

The result was incredibly positive community feedback, an unprecedented diverse demographic engaged, high social media engagement(50%+engagement rate) as influencers came to photograph and press visibility from all local Boston TV channels. The city of Everett, MA. has since decided to make all the BRT piloted elements permanent with ambitious plans to expand to connect with bordering municipalities. Cambridge, Watertown and Arlington have implemented various elements and finalizing efforts for community approval on others. The initiative highlighted the effectiveness in communication when new, innovative, creative approaches are taken to educate and engage on the benefits of public transportation.