2020 Competition: Successful Communication During Disruptive, Crisis Situations

TRB 14th Annual Communicating Concepts with John and Jane Q. Public Competition Winners

With strategies ranging from homeschooling kits for parents and teachers, to a clean commuting campaign, to community toolkits in 17 languages, the winners of the 14th annual Communicating Concepts to John and Jane Q. Public Competition illustrated best practices in how to communicate during disruptive, crisis situations.

In the last few years, various type of disasters have rocked our world – from hurricanes, floods, deadly wildfires, tornados and earthquakes, to the recent Coronavirus pandemic, which drastically impacted all modes of transportation. These disruptions have significantly affected the safety, resiliency and very survival of our transportation system, as well as the daily lives of the traveling public and the industries that depend on our worldwide supply chain. Many lessons were learned about successfully communicating with system users, stakeholders and communities during crisis situations.

Four entries were selected to participate in the virtual competition showcase at the January 2021 TRB Annual Meeting. The communications tools and techniques they used epitomize the spirit of communicating complex information in an uncomplicated manner in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Competition Winner: ADOT Kids

The competition winner was the entry, “ADOT Kids,” submitted by the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT). With thousands of parents teleworking, and homeschooling their children at the same time during the COVID-19 pandemic, the ADOT communications team developed fun, interactive activities to educate and entertain children and spark their curiosity about how our transportation system works. Weekly ADOT Kids activities were launched on the ADOT blog on the azdot.gov/ADOTKids website. Kids participated in games, chalk art drawings, safety message development and more. The ADOT blog provided a weekly recap celebrating the kids’ submissions with a slideshow and video in which a subject-matter expert answered transportation questions.

Runners Up

Three additional entries were honored as runners up in the competition. The entry, “Emerging from A Global Pandemic: Smarter, Better and Essential,” was submitted by Metrolink, the Southern California Regional Rail Authority. The entry described the communications strategies used to regain customer confidence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Steps taken to communicate to essential workers that they could travel safely on their train, included a clean commuting campaign with a video showing the cleaning regimen for the trains. An online tool was launched that allowed riders to check recent ridership on their train to ensure social distancing could be achieved.

The King County Metro entry, “How to Social Distance on Transit: Engaging Community-Based Messengers on Developing and Disseminating COVID-19 Information,” also garnered runner-up honors in the competition. The Washington State transit agency deployed community organizations to help get the word out about reduced service and schedule changes. A toolkit of digital and print content was developed in 17 languages to provide to riders in different ethnic communities. An “If you must go, be in the know” public service announcement campaign was created that referred riders to the King County Metro website to learn about COVID-related schedule changes and precautions.

A final entry, “Adapting to New Times: A Virtual Shift in Project Connect Community Engagement Efforts,” from Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (CapMetro) in Austin, Texas, provided information on how the agency shifted its community engagement efforts during the pandemic. In-person outreach efforts and open houses in preparation for new comprehensive transit plan, “Project Connect,” had been under way prior to the pandemic. CapMetro staff quickly switched their efforts to virtual open houses and virtual community meetings in English and Spanish, engaging thousands of stakeholders through videoconferences, social media and radio. These virtual strategies allowed the planning to continue during the pandemic, and the new transit plan was subsequently approved.