E. Capitol Hill In Motion – Mixing up Traditional and Innovative Tactics: How do you reduce drive-alone trips in an urban neighborhood where 70 percent of people already commute by bus, biking, walking, carpooling, or teleworking? This was the challenge for Capitol Hill In Motion, King County Metro’s 47th neighborhood-based In Motion program. For this young, highly educated neighborhood, the entrant supplemented the traditional direct mail focused approach with a mix of out-of-the-box tactics. Since 85% of people fill up their gas tank within a mile of home, the team placed ads at gas pumps and convenience stores to reach neighborhood car owners. Colorful chalk sidewalk stencils kept the campaign top-of-mind as residents went about their daily routine. And, the entrant broke out of the traditional “two-staffers-at-a-table” event outreach structure with roving guerrilla street teams signing up residents playing Pokémon Go, queueing for ice cream at neighborhood hotspots, or attending neighborhood events like Capitol Hill Pride, where an 11-person street team collected over 250 pledges—an In Motion one-day record. To garner a second round of media coverage mid-campaign, the entrant recruited a neighborhood artist to make transit fun with a cartoon on the “5 Best Things About Capitol Hill,” which was shared 359 times on Facebook and in two articles. Throughout the summer, these unconventional tactics encouraged a staggering 1,874 people to participate, with 91% pledging to reduce their drive-alone trips by two or more trips per week. Capitol Hill had the third highest participation rate of all 47 In Motion programs to date, and participants logged over 25,129 transit boardings using ORCA cards given out through the program.
