TRANSIT MESSAGING RESEARCH

RESULTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MOBILIZING AND MOVING COMMUNITIES

The national movement for better transit has achieved some big victories over the last couple of years, like securing an unprecedented level of COVID relief funding for transit from the federal government. But if we’re going to actually shift the current transportation paradigm and give people genuine freedom to move, we need to level up our wins. And to do that, we need an inspiring message that unites people across race and place, paints an irresistible picture of the world we’re fighting for, and inspires them to take action.

Organizations like TransitCenter must move beyond talking about the policy steps needed to achieve better transit, and actually start talking about how life will be better for people as a result of policy changes. Transit champions face an uphill battle when it comes to talking about transit.

We are fighting against a long-standing association in American’s minds between “freedom” and the automobile, and the idea that transit is inevitably an inferior product. Transit also suffers from perception issues – that it is only for poor people, that it is a haven for crime, that it invites riff-raff into your community – that have actually worsened in some places over the past few years as agencies face very real challenges recovering from COVID.

We are also battling ever-increasing cynicism that our government is still capable of delivering the type of big projects and reforms needed for us to have great transit.

RESULTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MOBILIZING AND MOVING COMMUNITIES​

To counteract these forces and develop new, ambitious, race and class conscious messages about transit, the National Campaign for Transit Justice partnered with Anat Shenker-Osorio’s firm, ASO Communications. Anat’s groundbreaking work brings important messaging insights to grassroots groups that are on the front lines of building power to secure social, racial, and environmental justice in America. The results of this messaging research project are here.

The messages we tested were exceptionally effective among base and persuadable audiences, and increased public will to pressure decision makers to fully fund transit. Despite the very real challenges coming out of the pandemic, it is motivating and energizing to know that Americans can be primed to see transit as something that will benefit their communities, and that is worth fighting for. But receiving the messages is only the first step – now our job as a transit movement is to actually put them into practice! 

These messages are designed to plug into your campaigns, and can be incorporated into vision statements, press releases, op-eds, and on social media. We hope you find these materials inspiring and useful, and we look forward to partnering with you as we work together to bring about true transit justice. Please be in touch if you would like help thinking through how to use these messages in your efforts.

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