Sacramento Regional Transit + City Council
Communicating a new youth-ride-free initiative.
In 2019, City of Sacramento Councilmember Jay Shenirer and his team approached 3fold Communications with the task of branding and communicating his new youth-ride-free initiative with Sacramento Regional Transit. The initiative was among the first of it’s kind in the country - all youth in the greater Sacramento area under age 18 could ride public transportation for free, at any time during operating hours, in an effort to combat chronic absenteeism in schools and allow youth to more easily get to after-school jobs and extracurricular activities.
As the copywriter and part of the branding team on this project, I started by researching the need and the niche for the program. In partnership with 3fold’s creative director, I developed several name options for the program drawing on youth trends and ride share apps from the startup tech world. Our goal was to brand the program in a way that felt young, fresh, and definitely not municipal.
Working with a consultant from WayUp Sacramento, I was able to coordinate and run a focus group with youth who had formerly interned at the capitol. With their help, we narrowed our name selection and landed on RydeFreeRT. From there, I wrote standard messaging for digital, billboard, and bus wrap adaptation; landing page content; and brochure content.
Because of our efforts, the RydeFreeRT program resulted in a 40% increase in youth ridership within the first year.
