Business Opportunity
Nowadays, it is almost unfathomable to think of smartphones as an emerging technology. However, back in 2010, when just 64 percent of the Edmonton Transit ridership identified as regularly using text messaging, this was very much the case.
While travelling on business with senior IT leadership, Nathan had the opportunity to engage in an exploratory conversation about the concept and how the City of Edmonton’s open data strategy could be leveraged to quickly and effectively integrate a public transit text messaging service. At this stage, one thing became quite clear; a text messaging service appeared to be quite feasible where promptly moving forward to planning and design was very much in the cards. Key value propositions included:
Better alignment to a quickly emerging technology-savvy commuter base.
Being able to more relevantly provide commuters with the information that they need and when they most need it.
Shifting away from a primarily paper-based approach, where transit schedules where produced in significant quantity and often out-dated quickly.
Following the preliminary exploration, Nathan spent several months developing the business case that outlined a 5-year financial and service demand forecast, including monetization opportunities through advertising revenue. This process involved consulting with several major transit authorities across North America along with the local developer community.
Once the business case and funding was approved, Nathan systematically progressed through the following steps to build, deliver and launch the service.
Worked with the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) to license a short code – the number commuters would text to receive their transit schedule. This number (31100) was strategically selected to mirror the City’s contact centre phone number as to allow for other City services to also use the shortcode beyond transit (in a future state).
Collaborated with corporate partners (information technology, procurement and legal) to secure a technology provider. Nathan then worked with the technology provider directly to configure data sources, integrate with an aggregator and bring the new service to life.
Led the ETS Marketing Group to brand the new service (ETS Text & Ride) and develop the go-to-market campaign. This multi-phased campaign focused on both driving awareness and adoption; extensively leveraging media in and around public transit spaces (billboards, bus benches, bus shelters, online, ads on transit passes, etc.).
Collaborated with the ETS communications team, where Nathan hosted a press conference at City Hall, resulting in National news media coverage and significant market exposure.
Actions + Outcomes
Commuters significantly adopted the ETS Text & Ride service year-over-year, far exceeding annual expectations.
Year One: 3.1 million text schedules sent on demand.
Year Two: 5.3 million text schedules sent on demand.
Year Three: 6.8 million text schedules sent on demand.
Year Four: 8.3 million text schedules sent on demand.
Since go-live, GPS real-time data has been incorporated, enabling commuters to see exactly when their bus is estimated to arrive; further providing commuters with value.
