Market Assessment dM k i Pl and Marketing Plan

Market Assessment d M k i Pland Marketing Plan

for Kings County Area

Public Transit Agency

FinalAugust 2016

Transit Marketing /Trillium Solutions 0

Table of Contents MARKET ASSESSMENT

Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 2

Situation Summary ........................................................................................................................................ 2

Service Area .............................................................................................................................................. 2

Service Overview ....................................................................................................................................... 3

Current Ridership ...................................................................................................................................... 4

Customer and Stakeholder Experience Review ............................................................................................ 6

System Identity ......................................................................................................................................... 6

Awareness & Image .................................................................................................................................. 8

Passenger Information .............................................................................................................................. 9

General Outreach .................................................................................................................................... 12

Stakeholder Relationships ...................................................................................................................... 13

Service Design ......................................................................................................................................... 13

Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 15

Methodology ............................................................................................................................................... 15

Duration of Use ........................................................................................................................................... 16

How Riders Use KART .................................................................................................................................. 17

Why Riders Use KART .................................................................................................................................. 22

How Riders Communicate .......................................................................................................................... 23

Employment Status ..................................................................................................................................... 25

Demographics ............................................................................................................................................. 26

Use of and Familiarity with KART ................................................................................................................ 29

Potential to Use KART ................................................................................................................................. 31

MARKETING PLAN

Objectives ................................................................................................................................................... 35

Target Markets ............................................................................................................................................ 36

People without cars or who share one ................................................................................................... 36

College Students ..................................................................................................................................... 36


High School Students .............................................................................................................................. 37

Millenials ................................................................................................................................................. 37

Recent Retirees and Seniors ................................................................................................................... 37

Persons with disabilities .......................................................................................................................... 38

Rural residents accessing Hanford services ............................................................................................ 38

Military Personnel and NAS Employees .................................................................................................. 39

Thursday Night Market attendees .......................................................................................................... 39

Marketing Strategies ................................................................................................................................... 40

PASSENGER INFORMATION .................................................................................................................... 41

GATEKEEPER NETWORK .......................................................................................................................... 56

BRANDING ............................................................................................................................................... 66

PROMOTION TO BUILD AWARENESS ...................................................................................................... 69

NEW LEMOORE ROUTES ......................................................................................................................... 74

Budget and Timeline ................................................................................................................................... 78


Market Assessment

Introduction This marketing assessment lays out the current status of how customers

and stakeholders experience learning about, riding, and working with

Kings Area Rural Transit (KART). It provides an overview of how Kings

County residents view KART, how they get information about KART

services, and how KART communicates service information and news to

them. The source material for this report consists of:

Interviews with management and staff.

Interviews with Kings County community members including

businesses, social service agencies, secondary and tertiary schools, and

local government staff (see list on right).

A review of KART customer information materials such as brochures,

signs, website, Facebook account, and real‐time information portal.

An on‐location review of facilities and vehicles, with special attention

paid to branding and customer information.

An on‐board survey of passengers conducted on all KART routes.

An online community survey, which was linked from KART and KCAG

websites and promoted via email to stakeholders.

This assessment will provide the basis for the development of marketing

strategies for KCAPTA to build ridership and support for KART within Kings

County, which will be detailed in the subsequent Marketing Plan.

Stakeholder Interviews

Kings County Association of

Governments

Kings County Area Public

Transportation Agency

MV Transportation

Social Service Transportation

Advisory Committee

West Hills College

College of the Sequoias

Lemoore High School

Sierra Pacific High School

View Road Apartments

Kings View Counseling Center

Lemoore Chamber of

Commerce

Corcoran Prison – Human

Relations

KART Passengers


Situation Summary

Service Area KART provides local fixed‐route services in the city of Hanford and County routes from Hanford to

Avenal, Corcoran, Fresno, Laton, Lemoore, Lemoore Naval Station, Fresno, and Visalia. The service thus

extends broadly throughout the major municipalities of Kings County and provides important links to

key destinations in neighboring counties.

KART provides the highest levels of service (trips throughout the day, six days a week) in two

communities where population is concentrated – Hanford and Lemoore. Lemoore, will soon see transit

service intensified. Beginning in Summer 2016, two new local routes will provide local circulation within

Lemoore and connect to the existing route 20.

Corcoran, which has a population

comparable to Lemoore, currently operates

its own dedicated public transit service,

Corcoran Area Transit, a demand response

service which connects with KART at the

Corcoran Depot.

Kings County is expected to grow at a

moderate rate of 1.4% between 2010 and

2020, a half a percent higher than the rate of

growth in California as a whole. This growth

is not expected to be even, however, as the

population is rapidly aging. Whereas working age residents are expected to grow 13% from 2010 to

2020, young retirees (those aged 65 to 74) are expected to grow 78%. Average growth of 15% is

expected in school age residents, another group with high transit propensity.1

1 US Census, California Department of Finance and KCAG and California Demographic Research Unit, Report P‐1, as cited in “Kings County Association of Governments Transit Development Plan”, 2015.

Population by Community and County‐wide, 2010

Community Population (2010)

Hanford 53,967

Corcoran 24,813

Lemoore 24,531

Avenal 15,505

County Total 152,982


Service Overview KART service is generally divided into two types of service: local Hanford routes and county routes.

The Hanford routes consist of eight thirty‐minute routes and one forty‐minute route. Most of the

routes operate once an hour. The Route 6, which serves key shopping destinations and enjoys the

highest ridership, operates every 30 minutes.

County routes include:

The Lemoore route, a 70‐minute round trip from Hanford through Armona to Lemoore and

back, serving West Hills College, with half‐hour departures throughout the day and evening on

weekdays, and reduced hours on Saturday.

Routes from Hanford to Avenal, Corcoran, Laton, Visalia, Fresno, and Lemoore Naval Air Station,

with 2‐4 trips per day, Monday through Friday only.

ADA complementary paratransit

KART offers complementary paratransit service in accordance with the requirements of the

Americans with Disabilities Act.


Fares KART charges a $1.00 cash fare on Hanford routes, a $1.50 cash fare on county routes, and a $2.00 cash

fare for paratransit rides. Transfers are issued to passengers upon exiting from a bus at the transfer

center (the only location transfers are allowed). Reduced fares are available for senior and disabled

riders, and children under 6 ride free with an adult.

While non‐cash fare media (monthly passes and value cards) are for sale only at the KART offices and

the transfer center, larger bills can be used in the KART bus fareboxes, and stored value cards return the

extra value for use on future rides. This is ultimately a simple system that allows a pass‐like medium to

be purchased on any bus. However, the availability of this option is not communicated to riders, out of

concern regarding the limited durability of the stored value tickets.

Additionally, a significant portion of riders utilize a pass received through College of the Sequoias. This

partnership with the school and other regional transit agencies provides unlimited rides on KART, as well

as five other bus systems. Overall the COS pass was used by 7% of riders during the onboard survey.

West Hills College has a group purchase program for standard monthly passes, so they do not appear

separately in the survey, but likely represent a similar portion of ridership. That type of partnership

offers another way to sell passes to target groups.

Use of monthly passes and the COS pass was more common amongst more frequent riders (4 days a

week or more), but even among these riders, half of all trips were paid in cash. Amongst all riders, 63%

paid their fare in cash, making it by far the most common fare medium.

Current Ridership KART provides about 650,000 passenger trips per year. Approximately two‐thirds of KART ridership is on

the Hanford routes, and one‐third of the Hanford ridership is on the Route 6, which provides service to

the core commercial area of Hanford. Amongst the county routes, Route 20 to Lemoore and West Hills

College carries well over half the county ridership. It is the only county route with more than 4 round

trips per day.

A passenger survey was conducted as part of this project and provides a profile of current KART riders.

More than half of all riders have been riding KART since 2012 or before. However, 30% began riding

in the 15 months prior to the survey. Most riders use the service regularly. Three‐quarters of riders ride 3‐6 days per week, while the

remaining quarter ride 1‐2 days per week. Most riders had used multiple KART routes during the 7 days preceding being surveyed. Hanford

Route 6 (43%) and the Lemoore route (34%) are the routes used by the largest portion of riders.

Most riders (69%) say they live in Hanford; 15% live in Lemoore. Riders use KART for a variety of trip purposes. About 45% of riders were commuting to work or

school when surveyed. A quarter (25%) were shopping and 12% were going to or from medical

appointments.


Most riders (69%) say they use KART because it is the only transportation available to them. Most

riders (87%) lack either a driver’s license a vehicle or both. About one‐third of KART riders are employed, while one‐quarter of riders are secondary or college

students. In total, 57% of riders are employed, students or both. Among the remaining riders, 18%

are unemployed, 11% are disabled, 10% are homemakers and 3% are retired. Half of KART riders (50%) are 34 or younger. Most others (42%) are in the 35 to 64 age range. Only

7% of riders said they were 65 or older. Most riders speak English at home (76%). However 22% speak Spanish at home and 14% completed

the survey in Spanish. A complete, detailed report of the passenger survey findings are included starting on page 15.


Customer and Stakeholder Experience Review The measure of marketing is in the experiences of transit riders, and of the gatekeepers who can work

with KART to build ridership at the institutions they represent. When riders have good experiences, they

ride more and refer others to the service. When gatekeepers at institutions like schools, social service

agencies, and large employers have good experiences working with KART, they redouble their efforts

and feel confidence in promoting ridership among the target markets that they work with. In order to

understand the effectiveness of KART’s current marketing, we have explored the experiences that

customers and stakeholders have in riding and working with KART. This section will analyze those

experiences qualitatively, based on our own experiences as riders and conversations with riders and

stakeholders.

This analysis will proceed from the ground up. We will begin with the foundational aspects of KART

marketing, such as the system identity expressed through its name and logo. We will then review KART’s

passenger information programs. Finally, we will assess the experiences of stakeholders in working with

KART and riders in utilizing the actual services. The order in which we address these issues does not

imply a priority of importance. Priorities – which are likely to focus on passenger information and

stakeholder relationships – will be addressed in the marketing plan.

System Identity

Name and Logo KART is a memorable name that has recognition in the community. All interviewees responded with

familiarity to the service name and indicated that they and other community members were aware of

the service and its purpose.

The KART logo is simple and distinct, but is not used consistently across applications and media. While

the core elements (name in clear font and crown) are appropriate for the service, significant variations

in the logo or name in different applications prevents a clear brand identity from forming.


Vehicles Outside of the transfer

center, KART buses blend

in with the many white

cars and trucks on Kings

County roads. The KART

logo is missing from both

cut‐aways and full‐sized

transit buses. Prominently

using the well‐known

name “KART” on the vehicles would help reinforce the presence and frequency of KART service. MV

Transportation, the service contractor, and their logo are very visibly featured on the buses where the

KART name and logo should be. This further muddies the brand identity for KART.

Signage Bus stop signage is a key element of a system’s brand and serves two valuable purposes. First, it lets

passengers know where to wait for the bus. Second, and equally important, it advertises the fact that

transit service is available within a given corridor or to a

specific destination. Seeing bus stops signs along the route

informs or reminds travelers that they have a transit

alternative.

Most KART bus stops are marked with signs that are

informative, providing both a phone number and route

numbers indicating what buses service the stop. The KART

name appears at the top of the sign, although the lack of a

consistent logo or bold universal bus symbol, does limit

instant recognizability. A few interviewees had a hard time

remembering the location of signed stops in some areas.

While the KART signs provide information to those who see

them, they do not stand out strongly on the street.


Stops served in Fresno and Visalia did not have the same level of signage as within Kings County. Except

at the Visalia transit center, no indication that KART serves these locations exists. Rather KART buses

serve stops signed by other transit services.

Facilities The KART transfer center is an open and inviting area with signage that, in most instances, makes finding

one’s route easy. Routes that are served on the street could have better signage within the main area of

the transit center directing riders to those routes. There is ample seating and parking to make riders feel

comfortable during their wait and confident that park and ride is available. Similarly, bus shelters are

clean and well signed.

More complex passenger information is missing from all facilities, creating a major gap for riders. There

are no posted schedules at the transfer station despite ample room, and bus shelters have space that

appears almost reserved for a system map or schedules, but none is present. At the transfer center,

there is an information booth where riders can request information. However, the information booth is

not very inviting because it is hard to see through the glass, and is not staffed during lunch or after

hours. A digital screen provides realtime information. This is useful, but it is not in an obvious location or

readable from a distance. Further, it provides no information other than the next bus arrival times, and

so is not useful to someone who does not already know which bus they need.

While KART facilities provide a comfortable place for riders who already know their way around the

system, they do not provide a user‐friendly experience for riders new to the system. Schedules and

route maps on the brick pillars (seen in the photo below) would help new passengers to learn the

system and would quickly communicate to existing passengers what their options are for boarding

times.

Awareness & Image KART has a strong image in the community, and there is a general sense that the agency provides

valuable services. However, outside of the individuals who ride regularly, there is little to no awareness,


of what KART’s services are. Some community leaders were unaware of basic service information such

as whether routes operated to a nearby town. Others commented that they were unaware of where the

nearby bus stops were. Many expressed an interest in better understanding the system, but frustration

with the lack of ease of access to such information.

There is a general sense amongst many community members that KART services are there for certain

populations, and not all residents. This is not viewed as a negative, but just a practical fact, that if a bus

rider could drive, they would. Thus, while the image is strong, the service is also pigeonholed by many

residents as “for other people”.

People know what KART is. … But some are scared of the system because they don’t understand

the information. ~Lemoore city government worker

“I didn’t even know KART goes to Fresno!” ~Lemoore city government worker

Students use KART because they don’t have other transportation. ~Community College Provost

Except for no Sunday service, things work well. ~Social service community volunteer

“You guys run a real good program.” ~Patron of local mental health community center

“I don’t know anybody who even uses it.” ~High school Vice Principal (speaking of their peers,

not their students)

“We didn’t even know about the app until the customers told us.” ~A bus dispatcher

No stakeholder or rider indicated any lack of support for KART or its mission. In general, while many

expressed a lack of deep understanding of the service, they also expressed an interest in learning and a

willingness to help promote that knowledge. More on the potential of stakeholder outreach will be

discussed in the Stakeholder Relationships section.

Passenger Information Passenger information is by far the biggest weakness in KART’s current marketing efforts. Riders,

particularly new riders, need to feel comfortable accessing information about how a transit system

operates, because managing that schedule information is the major logistical difference between

utilizing public transit and driving or riding in a personal vehicle. KART’s passenger information is

currently out of date, and has been out of date for some time. While we commend the KART staff on

their many victories, the consulting team also indicates unequivocally: passenger information must be at

least broadly up‐to‐date at all times.

Rider’s guide must be current

Website must be current

Notice of coming schedule changes should be provided in advance

While fulfilling these needs as schedules change is difficult, it is an imperative for all public transit

agencies, and resources must be redirected to allow for proper information distribution. Passenger

information is not an accompaniment to transit service. Rather, it is an integral part of that service.


Rider habits Both the onboard and online surveys asked pointed questions about passenger information, including

the transit information sources used by current riders given the information that is available to them,

and the communications preferences of all respondents. Those survey results strongly support the

conclusions of our qualitative assessment, that riders are not able to effectively gather basic service

information through efficient or convenient means.

The most pointed example of this was in the number of onboard survey respondents who indicated that

they routinely gather service information through calling KART. This is problematic because, while the

phone is likely the preferred method for a few riders, it is generally inconvenient for most riders due to

the relatively longer time to plan a trip. Further, it is much less cost efficient for KART itself. The other

primary types of passenger information were not utilized as often as we would have expected them to

be. The website and riders guides, the two quintessential modern‐day transit agency passenger info

tools, came in second and fourth in terms of frequency. Asking the driver was more frequent than using

the website.

Maps & Schedules KART maps and schedules within the printed riders guide currently under development use a generally

clear and readable style. Maps and timetables are provided together, with visual links between them

(numbered stops) that aid in identifying the correct boarding and alighting points. There are some

improvements that could be made to help riders read and understand schedules more quickly, or to

save space in the printed materials:

There is not a clear distinction between timepoints and non‐timepoint stops. Rather, all stops are

included in the timetables, and the timepoint time is duplicated until the next timepoint. This reads

somewhat oddly, and may create some confusion. A more standard approach is to only list

timepoints in the timetables (and only assign numbers to those timepoints). Other stops can still be

shown on the maps, and readers generally can “interpolate” that these stops come in between the

timepoints on either side. Beyond increasing readability, this would also save a significant amount of

space, and if route map sizes were slightly reduced, could cut the size of the brochure nearly in half.

Not all stops served in Visalia appear to be represented on the Visalia route map. This makes it

difficult to identify where in Visalia one can get to by riding KART.

Route maps could be improved by showing somewhat more precise stop locations. Currently, stops

are designated by large circles that cover the entire road. While the side of the street on which stops

are located is implied by the direction of travel, these stop markers only serve to show “about”

where stops are located. New riders still need to locate stops on often wide and busy streets that

are not pedestrian friendly. Stops could be smaller and thus more precise on the map if they did not

all refer to the timetable.

There is considerable text in the guide, much of which is unnecessary. A rider’s guide costs money to

print, but it also takes up real estate in a rider’s bag or hand, and more pages mean more

information to sift through. The 5 pages of front matter could be reduced to 3 by cutting out


superfluous information like mission and vision statements and shortening paragraphs regarding

paratransit information, bus stop policy on the downtown routes, and reasonable modifications.

Instead of reducing total length of front matter,

KART could alternately choose to keep the page

number the same, but provide a parallel Spanish

translation on the same page as the English front

matter. Currently, Spanish translation is provided

at the back of the book.

KART system maps online and in the new guide provide

a quality overview of the city and county systems. One

change to consider in all venues is to think of how to

better emphasize the ability to connect between the

city and county routes. As all KART routes meet at the

transit center, there is great connectivity from

downtown to county routes, but while these

connections are implied, they are not currently shown

to riders.

At-the-Stop Displays While KART bus stop signage is clear (if not quite obvious),

other at‐the‐stop displays are lacking. Signage space at bus

stops is primarily dedicated to advertising, while schedules

and maps are absent. At many stops, there is empty space

in displays that appears to be perfect for a system map or

schedule. This information would be invaluable especially

to new riders who want to understand the system.

Telephone Information Riders call the dispatch line frequently. In fact, in the on‐board survey, more riders (37%) cited

telephone information as an information sources than any other tool. This may be because it has for

some time been the one way to get fully up‐to‐date information. The telephone customer service

provided is excellent. Dispatchers provide departure time information in a friendly and helpful manner.

These calls could be reduced by implementing Google Maps (in progress), but also by providing more

information at‐the‐stop, especially at the transfer center. (While interviewing the dispatcher, the

consulting team witnessed firsthand a few calls for trip planning, all asking for departure times from the

transfer center.) Some riders may prefer to use the phone, but this is an inefficient form of customer

service, and many riders who call for information are likely doing so because other forms of customer

information are not available.


Online Presence Relatively few riders find information about KART online. For some of these riders, we can assume that

online information is not the preferred method of gathering information. However, despite the fact that

the majority of KART riders have a smart phone, only 26% of riders in the onboard survey received

information about KART from the website. Riders gave high marks to KART’s website, myKARTbus.com,

in response to the question of whether they thought it was useful. But the use of the website is more

important than the riders’ qualitative assessment of whether the tool is useful. While riders may think

the website is useful, their revealed preferences indicate that they do not believe it is an effective

source of passenger information.

KART’s online presence consists of

The website myKARTbus.com, contains agency information, route maps, and some schedule

information. It is fast‐loading and mobile responsive, and generally follows modern design trends.

The KART Facebook page notifies followers of events KART is involved in, non‐essential public

notices, and upcoming schedule change information.

A realtime bus information portal featuring arrival estimates for all routes, also available on mobile

phones.

This is the right array of tools, but the current presentation of KART online lacks a few essentials that

could greatly improve passenger information access. Note that each of these issues is well understood

by the agency, but also that some urgency should be considered in addressing solutions.

Full schedule information for routes is a core element of a transit agency website. Currently, route

maps are presented which indicate timepoints, but the “:30”‐style time formatting is opaque to

riders and service hours are not listed on the route pages.

Google Transit would allow riders to trip plan based on simply an origin and destination, without

needing to talk to a KART representative or read a timetable. A widget can be installed on the

agency website to allow easy access to Google where riders will see it.

The realtime information portal provides useful information but is not intuitive and is was difficult to

use for the Smartphone users we spoke with. There is also some information incorrectly

represented in the realtime app, such as route colors.

General Outreach KART staff performs general agency outreach primarily by maintaining a presence at public events and

holding travel training sessions. These are essential agency activities that provide a platform to create

strong service‐awareness amongst community leaders and the specific target groups. KART also relies in

particular on the system mascot Ryder as the public face of the agency. Ryder, a human in an animal

suit, is very popular both with kids and adults. However, this level of dedication to general agency

outreach may, in light of other priorities, be somewhat of a distraction.


Stakeholder Relationships Because public transit agencies have very limited funds with which they can attract new riders, one of

the key marketing methods—especially for rural agencies in small communities—is to build relationships

with the stakeholders and gate keepers in their regions. By establishing partnerships with the individuals

who can market for them, public transit agencies radically increase the value of their few marketing

dollars.

KART has effectively built relationships with some of the traditional, most valuable public transit

partners in the communities in which it operates. This was particularly the case for the social services

agencies. Clients and directors of Kings View Behavioral Health reported that they felt well engaged

with, communicated to, and cared for. The activities of KART in establishing and maintaining these core

relationships is laudable.

However, many other potential partners reported that they had received little or no communication

from KART. Indeed, a few reported that they had tried to communicate more with KART in the past, and

that they felt their attempts had been fruitless or that they were unable to receive the information they

required.

Stakeholder relationships will be discussed as a key marketing strategy in the marketing plan. However,

there are two points to consider. One is that the stakeholders in Kings County are very willing, even

eager, to work in partnership with KART to market transit to their constituents. Two, is that KART must

be proactive in establishing these partnerships. Communication with stakeholders, who can serve as

gatekeepers for various ridership segments, must be considered a responsibility of the transit agency,

rather than a responsibility of the stakeholders. While it is true that KART provides a service that local

institutions and leaders want to use and support, each of those stakeholders has their own institution to

care for, and cannot be expected to communicate proactively with KART. A stakeholder has no way to

know when schedules changes or temporary service changes affect their institution, unless KART

communicates this to them.

Service Design Service design is outside the scope of the current project, however, it is important to note certain

service design comments that were made frequently by numerous riders and other interviewees. While

ultimately service must be designed through a planning process rather than a marketing review process,

some service decisions reflect on the image of the agency and affect the relevance of marketing in

certain ways or to certain constituencies.

Sunday Service By far the most frequent request heard from interviewed riders and stakeholders was a request for

Sunday service. Because so many of the riders of KART utilize the service for non‐commute purposes,

many riders think of the lack of Sunday service as an inconvenient gap rather than an unneeded

addition. Sunday is the day one cannot get to Kings View or Walmart.


Later Service The early end to the KART service hours mean that many service workers, for example, working lunch

and dinner shifts, can get to work on the bus, but cannot get back home without other transportation.

Some riders still take the bus in the morning, but arrange for another ride home.

Extra Fresno and Visalia Service The limited nature of service to the important cities of Fresno and Visalia prevents those services from

being useful for many types of trips. Fresno service allows only a few hours there in the middle of the

day, which is plausible for medical appointments and shopping to a limited degree, but not for anything

that takes more than a couple hours. One of the more frequent survey comments related to the desire

for additional trips to Visalia.

Loop Routes and Transfers KART is comprised, especially within Hanford, of loop routes beginning and ending at the transfer

station. This model creates a system where coverage is high but many trips require circuitous travel and

a transfer. Thus, riders who are concerned about speed of travel are less likely to consider KART an

effective mode of travel.

Commute travelers with access to automobiles are unlikely to want to utilize KART service (unless

service is specifically geared to their employer, as with the prison in Corcoran). However, those for

whom automobile travel is not possible, and riders who are less concerned about speed could find KART

an affordable and easy way to get around.


Passenger Survey

Introduction During the week of April 4, 2016, an on‐board passenger survey

was conducted on all KART routes. A total of 372 passengers

participated in the survey. Most completed the survey in English;

however 52 completed it in Spanish. The chart at the right shows

the number of passengers who completed the survey on each

route – 166 on local routes and 206 on intercity routes.

Throughout the report, charts will show findings broken down by

local Hanford route riders, intercity route riders and all riders.

The results of the survey indicate that there are considerable

differences between the Hanford and the intercity route riders,

but also many similarities. The survey points to some “rider

types” who align with target markets to be discussed in the

marketing plan. For example, on the Hanford local routes, there is

a large segment of very frequent riders who use KART for nearly

all of their daily transportation needs. On the intercity routes,

there are a number of riders who use the service nearly daily, but only to get to work. Yet some trends

are consistent on all routes: cash fares, the unavailability of other transportation means, and a tendency

to access customer information by phone are common for all KART riders.

Methodology Trained surveyors wearing Transit Survey Team aprons

distributed and collected self‐administered questionnaires on

designated trips on both local and intercity routes. The

questionnaires were bilingual – English on one side, Spanish on

the other. Every passenger who boarded the bus while a

surveyor was on board was asked to complete the

questionnaire.

Please note that the data from each route have been weighted

based on the ridership on that route (from 2015 Transit

Development Plan). Hence, the overall findings reported here

accurately reflect KART’s total ridership base.

Route # English Spanish Total

1 15 1 16

2 6 4 10

3 4 2 6

4 17 6 23

5 7 2 9

6 51 9 60

7 9 2 11

8 8 9 17

9 10 4 14

12 10 1 11

13 24 3 27

14 0 0 0

15 31 0 31

17 17 0 17

20 104 9 113

21 7 0 7

Total 320 52 372


Duration of Use

More than half of all riders have been riding KART since 2012 or before. The percent of long time riders

is higher among those surveyed on the local Hanford routes (57%).

On the other hand, one in ten KART riders surveyed (10%) had just started riding in the first four months

of 2016, while another 20% began riding in 2015. A turnover rate of 25‐30% each year is typical for

transit agencies similar to KART, particularly when students represent a significant ridership segment.

Riders enter and leave the ridership pool based on a variety of factors in their life. The need to

continually introduce new riders to the transit system speaks to the importance of up‐to‐date and easy

to use passenger information sources.

Hanford Intercity All Riders

2012 or before 57% 45% 53%

2013 4% 12% 7%

2014 9% 13% 11%

2015 19% 22% 20%

2016 7% 7% 7%

First time riding 4% 1% 3%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

What year did you start riding KART?


How Riders Use KART

KART’s ridership includes a mix of occasional, regular and intensive users. More than a quarter (27%) of

local riders and 11% of intercity riders use KART every day that it operates. Forty percent ride 4 to 5 days

per week. The remaining 39% ride three days per week or less.


6 27% 11% 22%

5 19% 27% 22%

4 16% 24% 18%

3 12% 18% 14%

2 17% 10% 15%

1 10% 9% 10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Frequency of Use ‐ Days per Week


Riders were also asked how many one‐way trips they would make on KART on the day they were

surveyed. The chart above shows that the largest group (42%) was making a single round trip (two one

way trips). However, almost as many riders (37%) were making three or more one‐way trips, and twenty

one percent were making only a single one‐way trip (possibly getting a ride in the other direction).

Riders surveyed on the local Hanford riders were much more likely to be making multiple trips than the

intercity riders.

The table at the right compares the number of

days that riders use KART and the number of

trips they make. Intensive (6 day per week

riders) make fare more trips each day than do

less frequent riders. This means that a small

share of KART’s ridership pool represents a

much larger share of passenger boardings.


6 or more 8% 6% 8%

5 3% 4% 3%

4 12% 8% 10%

3 21% 8% 16%

2 37% 52% 42%

1 20% 22% 21%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Intensity of Use ‐ Trips per Day

Trips per Day Occasional (1‐3 days)

Regular (4‐5 days)

Intensive (6 days)

1 33% 16% 8%

2 49% 46% 20%

3 11% 16% 28%

4 3% 12% 20%

5 0% 5% 4%

6 or more 3% 4% 20%


Riders were asked to note all of the KART routes they had ridden in the past seven days. The chart above

represents the total distribution of responses. Not surprisingly, Hanford Route 6 and Lemoore Route 20

are the routes used by the largest share of riders.

What is significant to note is that virtually all riders use multiple routes either in combination or for

different trips.

25%

29%

22%

15%

23%

43%

17%

15%

14%

5%

34%

9%

6%

4%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

Hanford 1

Hanford 2

Hanford 3

Hanford 4

Hanford 5

Hanford 6

Hanford 7

Hanford 8

Hanford 9

Avenal

Lemoore

Visalia

Fresno

Corcoran

What KART routes have you ridden in the past 7 days?


Riders use KART for a variety of trip purposes. About 45% of riders were commuting to or from work

(22%) or school/college (23%) when intercepted. A quarter (25%) were shopping, 12% were going

to/from medical appointments. Those surveyed on intercity routes were more likely to be commuting to

work or school (59%) and less likely to be shopping.

As the table at the right demonstrates,

those who ride four or more days per week

were more likely to be making trips to work

or school. Those who ride 1‐3 days per

week were more likely to be going

shopping or to a medical appointment.

Very intensive riders (6 days per week)

were also likely to be going shopping.


Social services 2% 3% 2%

Social or recreation 4% 4% 4%

Other 13% 8% 11%

Medical 11% 13% 12%

Work 20% 27% 22%

School/college 18% 32% 23%

Shopping 31% 13% 25%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Primary Trip Purpose

Trip Purpose Occasional (1‐3 days)

Regular (4‐5 days)

Intensive (6 days)

Work 15% 26% 29%

Shopping 30% 19% 27%

School/college 16% 33% 17%

Social services 4% 2% 0%

Medical 17% 9% 7%

Social or recreation 5% 3% 4%

Other 11% 10% 15%


Most riders (63%) say they pay their fare in cash. Twenty percent use a monthly pass, 12% use a value

card and 7% use their College of the Sequoias pass. The distribution is essentially the same for both

Hanford and Intercity routes.

Frequent riders are somewhat more likely to have a monthly pass or COS pass; 35% for 4‐5 day riders

and 42% for 6‐day riders. However, even among these groups who would benefit from the savings of a

monthly pass, more than half pay their fare in cash.

Cash

63%KART Value

Card12%

Monthly Pass

20%

COS Pass7%

How did you pay the fare for this trip?


Why Riders Use KART

The chart above shows the reasons that riders say they use KART. The primary reason given among both

Hanford and Intercity riders is the lack of other transportation options.

As the table at the right shows, most riders lacked a

driver’s license or did not have a vehicle available on

the day that they were surveyed.

Saving money was another important motivation,

particularly for riders on intercity routes who are

making longer trips.


Only transportation available to me 71% 65% 69%

Save money 24% 31% 26%

More convenient than driving 18% 18% 18%

Good for environment 15% 14% 15%

Avoid driving 11% 12% 11%

Other 10% 6% 8%

Share vehicle with others 4% 8% 6%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Why do you use KART?Multiple Answers Accepted

Transportation Alternatives

Has license and vehicle available 13%

Lacks driver's license 18%

Lacks vehicle 20%

Lacks license and vehicle 49%


How Riders Communicate

Riders were asked to indicate the sources they use to

get route and schedule information about KART. The

most frequently given answer is to call KART (37%) –

the most inefficient way for riders to get information.

About a quarter of riders cited printed schedules,

asking the driver and the KART website, while

somewhat smaller groups rely on displays at the bus

stop, the transit center or asking someone.

Hanford and Intercity travelers gave similar responses,

with the exception that intercity travelers are much

more likely to use the website.

Riders were asked to rate the usefulness of KART’s

website. More than a third (37%) had not visited it.

Most of those who had found it somewhat (20%) or

very (35%) useful.


Call KART 39% 34% 37%

Printed schedule 27% 28% 27%

Ask bus driver 27% 25% 26%

KART website 22% 33% 26%

Display at Bus Stop 21% 12% 18%

Friend, coworker or family 15% 19% 16%

Display at Transit Center 13% 12% 13%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

How do you get KART route & schedule info?

Very Useful

35%

Somewhat Useful20%

Not very useful

4%

Not useful at

all5%

I haven't visited the website

37%

Usefulness of KART website


Virtually all riders (89%) have a

mobile phone. More than half of

(56%) have a Smartphone with

internet access, while 34% have a

conventional cell phone.

Riders were also asked about their

use of social media and Google

Maps. Facebook (52%) and Google

Maps (36%) were used by large

segments of the ridership. Twitter

is used by only about 10% of

riders. Among other social media

cited, Instagram was the most

frequently mentioned.

Intercity riders were more likely

to have a Smartphone (63%) and

to say they use Google maps

(47%). New riders (those who

began riding in 2015 or 2016)

were also more likely to have a

Smartphone (60%) and to say

they use Google Maps (43%).

This is likely related to the fact

that these two groups are

younger than the overall

ridership.

About 42% of riders said they would be interested in

getting alerts about service disruptions. Among this

group, text messages was the preferred delivery

mechanism for alerts.


No mobile phone 11% 9% 11%

Regular Cell Phone 37% 28% 34%

Smartphone with internet access

52% 63% 56%

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Do you carry a mobile phone?


Other social media 17% 15% 17%

Twitter 9% 11% 10%

Facebook 51% 53% 52%

Google Maps 31% 47% 36%

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Do you use...?


Employment Status

As the chart above shows, 26% of riders are employed full or

part time, while another 7% are employed students. Hence

about a third (33%) of all riders have jobs – primarily in

Hanford or Lemoore.

Nearly a quarter (24%) of riders are students. Added to the

7% that are both students and employed, this means that

31% of riders go to school or college. The pie chart at the

right shows the rough distribution of school which riders

attend. There is some overlap and a number of riders attend

both COS‐Hanford or West Hills College along with COS‐

Visalia. In addition, some students attend other schools or

training programs such as Learn4Life.

In total 57% of riders are employed, students or both. The

remainder are unemployed (18%), disabled (11%), homemakers (10%) or retired (3%).

Intercity riders are much more likely than Hanford riders to be students (34% and 18% respectively).


Disabled 14% 6% 11%

Retired 3% 2% 3%

Homemaker 13% 6% 10%

Unemployed 20% 14% 18%

Student and employed 7% 8% 7%

Student 18% 34% 24%

Employed part‐time 11% 16% 13%

Employed full time 13% 13% 13%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Employment Status

COS – Hanford

COS – Visalia

West Hills College

High School

Middle School

School or College Attended(Among Riders who are students)


Demographics

The survey included a few key demographic questions – age, language spoken at home and where riders

live and work.

The chart above reflects the age of the ridership, which is relatively young. More than a third (36%) of

riders are age 24 or younger. Another 47% are between 25 and 54. Only 16% of riders are 55 or older.

Intercity ridership is much more dominated by young people – 49% are age 24 or younger. The ridership

on Hanford routes includes a higher proportion of people 35 or older (57% on Hanford routes compared

to 33% on intercity routes). This reflects the larger number of students who are using the intercity

routes.

Because the population of Kings County is currently aging rapidly, it should be expected that more riders

65+ begin riding KART in the coming years.

Most riders speak English at home (76%). A significant minority of riders (22%) speak Spanish and 2%

speak another language.


75 or older 0% 0% 0%

65 thru 74 9% 2% 7%

55 thru 64 9% 10% 9%

45 thru 54 17% 14% 16%

35 thru 44 22% 7% 17%

25 thru 34 13% 17% 14%

18 thru 24 23% 43% 30%

15 to 17 7% 6% 6%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Age


Most KART riders surveyed live in Hanford (69%) and Lemoore (15%) where services are concentrated.

As would be expected, most intensive (6 day

per week) riders live in Hanford – 82%.

Among riders intercepted on the Hanford

routes, 82% live in Hanford. Among those

surveyed on the intercity routes, 44% live in

Hanford.

Among Intercity route riders, 27% live in

Lemoore and 9% in Armona. Smaller

segments live in the other served

communities.

Occassional (1‐3 days) Regular (4‐5 days) Intensive (6 days) All KART Riders

Visalia 8% 0% 2% 4%

Laton 0% 2% 0% 1%

Avenal 3% 4% 0% 3%

Armona 5% 5% 4% 5%

Corcoran 2% 4% 4% 3%

Lemoore 14% 19% 8% 15%

Hanford 68% 66% 82% 69%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Community of Residence

Hanford Intercity

Visalia 2% 7%

Laton 1% 1%

Avenal 1% 7%

Armona 3% 9%

Corcoran 3% 5%

Lemoore 9% 27%

Hanford 82% 44%

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%


Online Community Survey In order to provide an additional opportunity

for community input, an online community

survey was conducted.

Links to the survey were posted on the KCAG

and KCAPTA websites. The link was also

emailed to a wide variety of stakeholders

with instructions to pass it along to their

constituents.

A total of 56 individuals completed the online

survey. Most were residents of Hanford (61%)

and Lemoore (16%). However there were also

respondents from several other communities.

Respondents ranged in age from 14 to 70.

Most were 18‐64.

As the chart at the lower right shows,

respondents included a mix of employed

persons, students and non‐employed

individuals.

Following is a summary of their responses.

46.5%

11.6%

16.3%

4.7%

14.0%

9.3%

11.6%

4.7%

0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0%

Employed full time

Employed part time

College Student

High/middle school student

Unemployed

Retired

Disabled

Homemaker

Which of the following describes you (check all that apply)

Hanford

61%Lemoore16%

Corcoran

5%

Laton

2% Visalia7%

Other 5%

In what community do you live?


Use of and Familiarity with KART

Just over half (53%) of the online respondents had used KART during the past year. They were divided

fairly evenly among those who use the service regularly and those who ride occasionally or less often.

Those who had not ridden KART

in the past year were asked why

not. Two thirds (65%) said they

had no need to because they

had private transportation.

Thirty percent said they don’t

know where it goes or how to

use it. Only 9% said it doesn’t go

where they live or need to go,

and no one said they would not

be comfortable with the other

people on the bus.

Regularly‐‐at

least one day a week

Occasionally‐‐at least one day a month

Infrequently‐

‐less than once a month

Only once or twice in the past year

I had not

ridden KART

Use of KART in past year

65.2%

8.7%

30.4%

0.0%

17.4%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

100.0%

No need, I have private

transportation

Doesn't go where I live or need to go

I don't know where it goes or how to use it

I would not be comfortable with the other people

on the bus

Other (please specify)

Why haven't you used KART? (check all that apply)


Asked how familiar they are with the KART system, 30% of respondents said they are very familiar and

37% said somewhat familiar. In total, two‐thirds of respondents had some familiarity with KART. The

remaining third were not very familiar (16%) or not familiar at all (16%).

Respondents were then asked about their awareness of what communities KART services. The chart

above shows the level awareness for service to each community. Virtually all respondents were aware of

service within Hanford, but many fewer were aware of the intercity services provided.

97.8%

78.3%

47.8%52.2%

26.1%

52.2%47.8%

0.0%

20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

80.0%

100.0%

120.0%

Hanford Lemoore Corcoran Avenal Laton Visalia Fresno

KART serves several communities within and near Kings County. Please check the communities that you are aware that KART serves.


Potential to Use KART

Asked under what circumstances they could see themselves riding KART, nine respondents said “I

cannot realistically see myself riding KART for any reason,” and twelve respondents skipped the

question. In total, more than one‐third of respondents did not offer an instance when they would use

KART.

The chart above shows the distribution of respondents among the 44 individuals who answered the

question. The most common answer is if my car was in the shop or otherwise unavailable – hence they

would only use the bus is private transportation were unavailable. However, significant minorities said

they would use the bus if it provided a convenient location between home and work or school or to

travel to other communities.

11.4%

40.9%

34.1%

29.5%

20.5%

18.2%

0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0%

If gas prices go up again

If my car was in the shop or otherwise unavailable

If there were service within a few blocks of my home and my job or school

To travel to other communities, such as Visalia or Fresno

I cannot realistically see myself riding KART for any reason


Under what circumstances would you see yourself riding the bus?

(check all that apply)


If they decided to try riding KART, most potential users would look for information on the internet

(76%). Half (52%) would consider calling and 19% would look at the transit center. This reflects the

importance of having easy to use information online as well as readily accessible at the transit center. It

is also striking that while so many potential riders say that they would use online information, only a

small portion of current riders actually do.

52.2%

76.1%

10.9%

19.6%

10.9%6.5%

13.0%

4.3%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

100.0%

Call KART On Internet At bus stop At transit center

Google Search

Google Maps

Ask a coworker, friend or

family


If you decided to ride the bus, where would you look for route and schedule information to plan your trip? (check all

that apply)


More broadly, respondents were asked how well they think KART meets the public transit needs of King

County. About two‐thirds said well (39%) or very well (28%). The remaining third said not very well

(30%) or poorly (2%).

Asked “What, if any, service should KART be providing that it is not currently,” 22 respondents provided

responses. They are listed below. The most frequent responses related to Sunday service (5 responses),

and more frequent service on specific intercity routes.

Needs more bus services to Corcoran and Avenal.

Mid day service in Corcoran.

More service for Corcoran.

More bus routes in Lemoore.

More frequent service within Lemoore to West Hills College. That may help alleviate traffic

congestion at SR‐41 and Bush St.

More trips between Visalia and Hanford.

Later evening returns from Visalia and Fresno.

Service to nearby towns.

Longer hours until 11pm to accommodate people who work and go to school

More bus stops and longer running times for Hanford ‐ Lemoore routes

Buses on Sundays..run later on weekends.. services to more parts of Lemoore

Sunday Service

Very well28.3%

Well39.1%

Not very well30.4%

Poorly2.2%

How well do you think KART meets the public transit needs within Kings County?


Sunday service is needed for those who work on Sunday. And service is not provided out to the

warehouse types of business, i.e. Walmart Distribution or Del Monte. The early morning or late

shifts are not covered with transportation. People work 7 days of the week not just Monday‐

Saturday. They also work early and late shifts.

Try providing services on Sunday

Routes should run on Sundays

An easier way of figuring out what buses you need to take to reach your location.

Need more free services for the seniors

Free ride days

They need to have the routes run every 30 minutes instead of every hour and make it easier to catch

them. I can never figure out when the buses are at the stops or at the transit center.

More frequent buses.

I only know about my own situation and I think that letting the computer pick our pick up times and

the route the bus takes is crazy. I take the dial a ride. Once in a while I take the big bus and it is just

as crazy with the times they leave the terminal.

I think they're doing a great job.

There isn't a stop close to my area at all. I live down from Freedom Park and have no way to get

around unless my parents take me. The closest stop is several blocks away.

Pickups like taxis.


Marketing Plan

Objectives The overarching goal of this Marketing Plan is to build ridership for KART’s local and intercity fixed route

services. To achieve that goal, a number of objectives should be pursued. The objectives, critically, are

not aimed at the rapid growth or expansion of the system, or attracting large numbers of new riders

from groups that do not currently ride KART. Rather, in line with the Marketing Assessment, the

objectives of the Marketing Plan are practical and down‐to‐earth. Building ridership will be a gradual

process of introducing new users to the system and encouraging returning riders by providing

information, fostering partnerships, creating awareness, and promoting new and unrecognized services.

Make the system more user‐friendly for both experienced and novice riders, through enhanced

and accurate passenger information tools and easily available fare media.

Frustration about information can spoil the experience of using transit before even boarding the

bus. Clear, helpful information that has all the right details presented in a clear, concise manner,

creates a successful experience and brings riders back.

Create partnerships with gatekeepers for key target groups, in order to implement customized,

low cost marketing strategies.

Certain local organizations serve constituencies that include many dedicated KART riders. The

employees at these institutions can provide KART with access to their clients and students via

internal communication channels. These gatekeepers are thus key potential marketing partners for

KART, and maintaining strong relationships with them will help them promote transit ridership.

Build awareness of the system and the specific services it provides among potential riders,

gatekeepers and the Kings County population as a whole, through both branding and promotion.

The Market Assessment identified that many community members have a positive opinion of KART

and public transit, but little knowledge of KART’s services. Consistent branding and targeted, low‐

cost advertising and promotion will introduce the public to details they may have missed about

KART.

Support introduction of enhanced services, including two new routes in Lemoore.

As services are expanded and enhanced passenger amenities are introduced, KART’s potential

ridership base is expanded, but only to the extent that current and potential riders are informed

about the new opportunities. For example, the two new routes in Lemoore will be more successful if

the new service is accompanied by targeted promotion to attract new riders; and real time

information will be more valuable if it is broadly promoted.


Target Markets An important element of the Market Assessment was the identification of target groups with realistic

potential to use KART more extensively. While it might be tempting to say that KART should encourage

large numbers of drivers to give up their cars and ride the bus, stakeholders and this consultant do not

believe that is realistic given current service configuration and levels. However, stakeholders did identify

several markets as strong growth opportunities for KART. Each of these segments is one that KART

already serves and offers distinct benefits to. By working with gatekeepers at institutions that represent

these groups, KART can increase penetration and attract more riders whose travel needs can be met by

the system.

People without cars or who share one As discussed in the Market Assessment, the way the KART system is set up (with loop routes) provides a

high degree of access, but compromises speed of travel. You can get to an impressive number of places

by KART, but should not expect to get there as fast as you would by driving. This basic fact makes it

difficult to compete with driving for many trips. If a rider has a car available and can cut a 40 minute

KART trip down to 10 minutes, they are likely to do so.

This means that an important group to consider is individuals without a car or regular access to one.

Riders with no cars already represented a large majority of KART trips as shown in the market survey.

But carless residents make many more trips in Kings County by long walks, bike rides, by getting rides

with others, or choose not to make trips because no car is available. Many of these trips could be made

on KART.

Many of the groups in the following sections are also demographic segments that are likely to not own

vehicles, and thus be more pre‐disposed to riding KART. Riders only temporarily without a car are also a

key group to focus on. The online survey indicated that many individuals who don’t use KART now would

consider it if they did not have access to their car. For example, if a car is in the shop, a Hanford resident

might want to ride the bus rather than pay for a rental. While that particular ideal may be fodder for an

advertisement, the best way to focus on occasional riders is to build general awareness of the system

through strong, consistent branding, and to make sure that they have easy‐to‐read passenger

information to introduce them to the service.

College Students College students are strong potential riders and fit into other groups likely to ride (many do not have

cars, and many are Millenials). Many college students are willing to take public transit, and many others

have limited options.

KARTS service area include two colleges that are destinations for thousands of students daily. West Hills

College has approximately 4800 students, while the Hanford College of the Sequoias campus has 1700

students with many more at the Visalia campus. Students from West Hills College and from College of

the Sequoias make up a large share of KART riders, as was demonstrated in the onboard survey. Each of


those colleges is served by bus stops either on the campus or immediately next to it. The combination of

common travel destinations with a market that is prone to use public transit makes these colleges an

important focus for targeted marketing efforts.

In marketing to college students, an important need is to provide quality information online. Another is

to work with the schools themselves, to make sure that relevant information is provided directly to

students. As will be discussed below in strategies related to building partnerships, COS and West Hills

administrators could be very strong partners in providing a conduit for students to receive information

and to provide feedback.

High School Students High school students very rarely own cars, often live too far from school to comfortably walk, but also

often have to take full responsibility over getting themselves to school by bell time. This makes them

prime candidates to use the bus. Sierra Pacific, Hanford, and Hanford West all lie on KART routes.

Because those routes connect at the transit center, they provide access to high schools for riders

potentially coming from surrounding communities. KART may also make participation in before and

after school programs possible for some students who would otherwise have no transportation.

As with college students, the most direct access to high school students is through the school

administration. Critically, high school administrators have access not only to the children, but also to

their parents. Information sent home in a bulletin can turn a mom or dad into a marketer for KART.

Strategies about how to work with these gatekeepers will be discussed below.

Millenials Many younger Americans, even after leaving college, and even in more rural areas like Kings County, are

much more willing to ride transit than previous generations. Making KART attractive to younger riders

can be effective for this reason—they already have a propensity towards transit—but it can also be a

very smart long‐term investment. Younger riders can build lifelong habits that keep them in the pool of

riders longer. Even if they do eventually purchase cars and cease to make most trips by transit, more

experience with KART will likely make it easier for them to return to the service occasionally later in life.

Marketing to Millenials is, more than anything, about giving them the tools they expect: an easy to

access website, and schedule information through their mobile phones. GTFS data in Google Transit is

probably the single most effective tactic that can be pursued to attract millennial riders, because of the

ubiquity of the use of Google Maps. Image is also relevant to Millenial riders. Young riders do not expect

transit to be cool, but they do expect it to look modern, professional, and clean, as well as having the

technology offerings that make it easy to access.

Recent Retirees and Seniors The census projections discussed in the Market Assessment showed that Kings County’s population is

growing, but that growth is disproportionately towards certain population segments. The fastest

growing group is one that is a very important to the future of KART’s ridership: young retirees. Older


seniors are also growing in Kings County, and working with riders of all ages is critical to KART’s success.

But younger retirees offer a particularly important target market for two reasons.

Recently retired individuals have more time, making transit a newly allusive transportation option.

As driving becomes less desirable with age, transit provides access, but is easier to train people on

before mobility is limited by age‐related disability.

Recent retirees and seniors want service to be plainly presented, and expect buses to be tidy and

attractive. Online information is less important than for younger riders, and not every potential rider

may want to carry a full schedule book. As with many newer riders, posted schedule information at

major stops is a good way to help train a recent retiree getting used to taking leisure trips by transit.

General marketing and promotion is necessary to reach this group, because many seniors are not

directly affiliated with an organization who can serve as a reliable KART surrogate. Retirement homes do

offer large audiences and a single point of contact, and will be discussed further below, but represent

only a small portion of the full market. Those residences also only tend to represent an older subsection

of seniors. General promotion is the best way to reach the early retirees and turn them into riders long

before they consider a move to a retirement home.

Persons with disabilities Travelling around a rural area can be a difficult process for an individual with a disability. KART provides

a lifeline to many area residents who otherwise would have no inexpensive travel options available to

them.

Many people with disabilities already use KART service for that reason: because it is the only practical

service for many of their trips. Marketing to people with disabilities then is not quite as much about

finding ways to make them riders. Rather, marketing to people with disabilities is about making sure

using KART is a simple, comfortable process that feels intuitive and safe.

Information should be clear, and information on KARTs extra services for persons unable to ride fixed‐

route transit should be easy to find. All information must be available in forms accessible to the blind

and to the deaf. Because many people with disabilities are in contact with a caseworker for various

services, social service agencies or non‐profits that support residents with disabilities are the primary

conduits through which KART can reach out directly to this market.

Rural residents accessing Hanford services Inside Hanford there are KART buses travelling frequently along major corridors, offering frequent

opportunities for residents to notice that KART serves the area. The Market Assessment noted that

there was considerably lower awareness for rural routes that travel outside Hanford, and that many

residents did not know that some Kings County towns like Laton, Corcoran, or Avenal were served.

But residents in these areas, especially residents who fit into the other previously identified target

markets, have access to a lot of travel options via KART. All County services connect to the thick and

frequent Hanford city network, and from there Fresno and Visalia can be reached by transfers.


Part of the reason why awareness of these routes is lower is because it is harder to reach rural residents,

who are not clustered around locations and organizations like many in Hanford. However, branding and

general promotion strategies discussed further below can be used to cast a wide net that encourages

more rural residents to find and use KART.

Military Personnel and NAS Employees KART provides highly targeted, albeit limited, commute hour service to the Lemoore Naval Air Station

(NAS). This has the potential to serve active military personnel, civilian employees that work on base,

and others needing to travel to on‐base destinations.

Active duty service members are generally young and many are Millenials. However, they are a diverse

group that should not be pinned into just one of the previously discussed target markets. Meanwhile,

civilian base employees are likely to include a broad spectrum of workers, including many employed in

lower wage service jobs. The primary strategies for reaching this market segment is through the

Lemoore NAS administration. Working closely with the NAS provides direct access to many potential

riders, including military personnel, their families and civilian employees who work on the base.

It should be noted that all federal employees enjoy the federal transit benefit—their costs for using

transit would be paid by the base, making KART an even more affordable transportation option. This

would be an important message to convey to base personnel.

General promotion and efforts that preference or target veterans could also be very effective: Kings

County is one of only a handful of California counties in which the Veterans Administration expects to

see an increase in Veterans over the next 30 years.2

Thursday Night Market attendees Hanford’s Thursday Night Market offers city residents a time to gather and experience downtown

Hanford a little differently, with live music, vendors, and a closed street in the middle of town. KART

buses deviate every Thursday during the Spring and Summer to accommodate the event. In addition,

KART offers attendees an easy way to access the market while avoiding any traffic and parking

congestion. Thursday Night Markets are primarily attended by residents who would not typically use

KARTs services, but showcase a perfect reason why the attendees might want to use KART occasionally.

The Market Assessment identified occasional use for evening recreation as one reason why car‐driving

residents of Kings County might find KART useful. Thursday Night Market is just the type of recreation

the Market Assessment identified. Getting people to use the bus to get to Thursday Night Market just

might get them to take KART to dinner in downtown on other nights. General promotion at the event,

notifications to riders about the event, and partnering with other organizations that participate in the

event—all strategies that KART staff already utilize—would help KART attract riders and be noticed as an

important member of the community.

2 Veteran’s Administration, http://www.va.gov/vetdata/veteran_population.asp, accessed July 3, 2016.


Marketing Strategies This section constitutes the core of the marketing plan. It outlines an action plan of strategies to be used

in pursuing the identified target markets and accomplishing the objectives previously discussed. The

strategies have been developed with the input of KART and KCAG staff and the stakeholders

interviewed.

The strategies are grouped into categories that align with the objectives identified at the beginning of

the Marketing Plan.

1. Passenger Information

2. Gatekeeper network

3. Branding

4. General agency promotion

5. Promotion of new Lemoore routes

While each category is prioritized, certain actions within each category will also have relatively higher

priority. Each individual strategy will be identified with a matrix of information summarizing the need,

according to the following model:

Priority Level of priority

Need What is the problem that can be addressed

with this strategy?

Description What does the strategy entail?

Timeline When should this be enacted and what is

the timeframe?

Budget How much will it cost in staff time or

expenses?

Resources

(Where

applicable)

What will KART need to act?

Notes

(Where

applicable)

Important highlights


PASSENGER INFORMATION Passenger information is one of the most basic elements of transit marketing. It provides the

“directions” for using the transit product. Without effective, easy to understand information, a transit

system is simply not a complete product.

Up‐to‐date and complete transit information needs to be provided in various forms appropriate for

KART’s diverse ridership groups. This section will address the objective of making KART more user ‐

friendly and readily accessible. It details strategies for enhancing KART’s overall passenger information

program including printed information, online information, at‐the‐stop information and community

displays. The strategies included here are the highest priority recommendations in this plan.

Schedule Updates

Printed Passenger Guide

Change Notification

Text Alert System

GTFS Data

Website

Bus Stop Signage

Posted Schedules

Information Displays

Schedule Updates - Establish Regular Process The market assessment identified the need

for riders to be provided up‐to‐date and

complete schedule information, in both

printed and online formats. Passenger

information should not be allowed to remain

out‐of‐date as it has been over the past year.

The best tool to prevent this situation is a

systematic update process undertaken

whenever service changes are made. It is

recommended that KART establish an

information update protocol that outlines

the timeline on which information is needed

by each staff member or vendor involved in

the creation of updated passenger guide and

website. Schedule updates require the

interaction of nearly every component of a

transit agency, and due to the complex

Priority Very High

Need

Riders need up‐to‐date printed and

online schedule information by effective

date of service

Description

Document process for updating

passenger information. Identify the date

prior to schedule change that

vendors/staff members must be

provided with information and materials

Timeline Immediate

Budget Staffing: less than 1 person‐day

Resources Explanations of needs from vendors and

staff key to process.

Notes This is the Marketing Plan’s “number 1

recommendation”


process of coordinating those resources, each step should be scheduled, and effective dates should be

chosen that provide time for the full process to be completed prior to the service change.

The update protocol needs to address:

Identification of the vendors who provide:

o Printed guide design

o Printing

o Guide distribution

o Website updates

The timeline each vendor requires in order to provide delivery, incorporating time for KART to

review drafts as necessary

Checklists for the resources each vendor needs

Identification of responsible staff members for each stage of the process

Each task identified on the timeline of “days before effective date,” in order to facilitate

planning of individual updates of the schedules

In order to insure that updates can be completed in the limited time period between board approval of

changes and implementation, it may be necessary to complete some tasks in advance of the final

decision. For example, draft artwork for maps and schedules can be created in advance, requiring only

minor adjustments to reflect any final changes. Printing bids can be secured in advance, since

specifications for the guide are known, and only final artwork need wait until the last minute. Changes

to the website require much less lead time than printed materials and can easily be made during the

available time.

Guide distribution is one critical component of a schedule change process that can seem like just an

afterthought, but must be treated as a priority along with design and printing. Later in the Marketing

Plan we will suggest that KART establish a network of partners, organizations and destinations that

facilitate information distribution. At the time of a future major schedule change, these locations will

need to be restocked with new information in a quick and orderly fashion. 10,000 guides will do few

riders any good if they all remain at the KART office or the transit center. A local contractor should be

identified or a KART staff member given the resources to ensure that up‐to‐date passenger guides are

made available at the locations where riders will be looking for KART information.

Passenger Guide – Format Changes The new passenger guide now in development will greatly enhance the quality of printed information

for KART riders. The Market Assessment identified a number of potential improvements to the draft

riders’ guide style, when viewed from the perspective of riders. A few ideas were suggested to make the

guide easier to use:

Maps

o Distinguish between timepoint and non‐timepoint stops

o Show all stops (some are missing from Visalia map)


o Increase precision, by decreasing the size of stop markers, especially for non‐timepoint

stops

o Bus stop locations should show side of street

o Show the city and county routes on the same overview map, or find another way to

highlight their connection

Timetables

o Include only timepoints to

reduce size (but still show all

stops on map)

Front matter/text

o Reduce the amount of text by

concise wording and elimination

of anything the typical rider does

not need (we think text can be

cut about 50%). More detail

information can be provided on

the website.

o Provide Spanish parallel to

English on same page instead of

in the back of the book

Most of this work should be contracted out,

as passenger information requires highly

technical graphic design and communication

skills to execute properly. Even copywriting

is worth contracting out: figuring out the

best words in a marketing document takes

time and care. KART staff will be critical in

guiding and reviewing the work of contracted marketing consultants.

Public Notification of Changes Just as there must be a standardized process put in place for updating information every time there is a

major schedule change, there are also actions that should be taken to make riders aware that a change

is coming. This is true, even for minor changes that may not necessitate a new passenger guide. For

example, small changes—like stop location changes—should be accompanied by announcements in

various media that get the message to the riders who will care most. These announcements need to be

obvious enough that riders will see them. That means sometimes taking a bit of time to thoughtfully

design the right notification method.

Priority Moderate

Need

For maximum effectiveness, printed

information should be as concise, simple,

and as precise as possible. Basic format

changes would help.

Description

Remove excess front matter and

condense timetables, provide clearer

maps, and highlight the connection

between the city and county routes.

Timeline Prior to next major service adjustment

Budget

Staffing: 1 person‐day

Graphic artist: $2,500 ‐ $10,000 for

changes, normal budget to maintain

Resources GIS data, graphic artist contractor

Notes

Maps are the comparatively expensive

change here. Project could be cheaper

and less expensive without changes to

maps.


KART already takes these actions, by posting signs on buses and at stops when

critical change s occur. However, many of these notices are insufficiently eye‐

catching or obvious to be noticed by riders. Visual styling and thoughtful design by

a professional graphic artist can ensure that signs are seen and understood. The

pictures of notices shown here give a sense of the type of service notifications

that could be improved by providing bolder, more engaging notices to riders. The

example on this page is from

another system that

considers “notices” to be a

marketing opportunity.

Consider having a graphic

designer create a template

that could be completed by

KART staff for individual

announcements. Even simple

changes like bold colors,

larger font and a KART logo on

a larger sheet of paper would

help improve visibility.

Additionally, other types of

notifications need to be made

in advance, in order to insure that all riders

get the information and prevent disruption

at the time of a trip. These might include:

Alerts on the KART website

Text alerts to registered riders (discussed

next)

Driver announcement onboard buses

E‐mails to stakeholders with PDF notices

for posting (discussed later)

Priority Moderate

Need Clearer format and process for public

notifications

Description Create more eye‐catching notice

template and ensure posting prior to

change when possible.

Timeline Immediate

Budget

Staff: After new template is designed,

little to no additional time.

Contractor: If a graphic artist were used

for template design, perhaps $300‐$500.

Resources Optional (but suggested) graphic artist

contractor


Text Alert System The Market Assessment identified that

nearly every rider on KART had access at

least to a traditional cell phone. Riders also

noted that they would like to receive

updated service information by text. This

indicates that a text alert system might be

the perfect real‐time system to add to

KART’s passenger information toolbox.

KART has already moved forward with

implementation of this tool, through the

consultants’ suggested vendor, GovDelivery.

The agency has implemented the service

very well, and has begun delivering regular,

useful alerts to riders. Here are a few notes

and suggestions as KART continues providing

text and email service alerts.

The form on the sidebar of the website

works perfectly, but the form that comes

up “on top” of the myKARTbus.com

website when the rider first navigates

there does not properly accept a telephone number. As a promotional tool, it makes sense to have

the pop‐up short‐term to make riders aware of the new system. However, longer term, we do not

suggest “forcing” the user to consider the option as it is currently done on the KART website. The

widget installed on the sidebar of the site is probably sufficient to provide access to alerts for riders

who want them.

The ability of riders to choose individual routes to receive alerts on is very useful.

Once KART is live in Google (discussed below), alerts can also be posted through the Google

Partnerdash.3

Alternatively, KART could publish a GTFS‐realtime service alerts feed, which could be the source of

integrating a number of these features together (Google, website, GovDelivery).

3 Google assigns a Partner Dashboard (“Partnerdash”) account to the email that will manage a GTFS feed in Google Maps. This is the platform where an agency or its contractor will provide data to Google. More information can be gained by emailing transit‐[email protected].

Priority High

Need Ability for riders to receive text alerts on

service disruptions

Description Implement GovDelivery text alert system

Timeline Implemented

Budget

Staff: Sufficient staff time should be

allocated to ensure that all alerts that

should be posted make it into the system

Expenses: text message fees

Resources GovDelivery

Notes

KART has already implemented this

recommendation and has done so

admirably


GTFS Data and Real-time GTFS data is an electronic representation of fixed‐route

schedules that can be read and understood by dozens of

online transit applications and systems, most importantly

Google Maps. Online trip planners are the easiest answer to

riders’ most frequent question: how do I get from here to

there?

After the launch of KART in Google Maps, a trip planning

widget should be installed immediately on the front page of

the agency website. This widget quickly turns the website

into a tool that can provide a personalized itinerary with the

rider only needing to provide an origin and a

destination.

KART’s GTFS data4 should be thoroughly

tested and reviewed by the agency during

the Google Transit preview process to be

sure that information is not only accurate,

but also easy

to read for riders. Upon request, the

consulting team can provide a best practices

checklist to use for a review of current data.

Providing high quality data to Google and

other apps may require substantial agency

staff time invested in review of data, even if

a contractor is involved. However, the work

pays dividends in the long term by providing

a description of KART schedules that has a

variety of applications including map design,

real‐time arrival estimate accuracy, online

schedule updates, and others.

KART has identified that its current real‐time

4 KART has identified that AVL vendor Connexionz can provide the agency with an export of schedules in GTFS, and has tasked a

marketing vendor with the implementation of Google Maps for the agency. The process is ultimately straight forward but can

be difficult and time‐consuming without specialist knowledge. If a preview of the data is not provided within a month of

beginning the project, a vendor specializing in GTFS should be consulted. Full integration of Google Maps should take no more

than 4‐6 months, but can take years or even not finish if not managed by a contractor with technical knowledge. of the data. A

list of possible vendors can be located here: http://bit.ly/gtfs‐vedors. Disclosure: partial report author Trillium is included on

this list.

Priority High

Need

KART live in Google Maps to provide

riders with an easy, familiar way to get

trip planning information

Description Test and augment GTFS data as

necessary, respond to Google QA

questions

Timeline 3‐4 months

Budget

Staff: 2 person‐days

Consultant: $500 ‐ $6,000 depending on

quality of data

Resources GTFS data

Notes Should be a simple process—seek

knowledgeable advice if it is not


system is one that it does not frequently market to riders. This is unfortunate, but the consultant agrees

that the platform is not ideal and real‐time information beyond the transit center is not a major priority

for KART. Ultimately, real‐time information from KART’s system should also be integrated into Google.

This could be done through a GTFS‐realtime feed, provided by KART’s AVL vendor, or by converting the

data produced by that vendor. However, other priorities listed in this marketing plan should take

precedence.

Website Adjustments myKARTbus.com has the right mix of

information tools, as stated in the market

assessment. However, it does not present

some of the information in formats that are

easy for riders to use. There are a few simple

changes that could be made immediately to

greatly improve the value of the website for

current and potential riders.

1. Navbar: the navigation bar at the top of

myKARTbus.com presents a confusing

introduction to riders. On the left side

after “Home” is “Information” which

sounds like what riders want. However,

the information provided through that

menu option is of little interest to most

riders, who just want schedules, maps,

or real‐time info. Paratransit is also

placed to the left of “Route Maps”,

although it is used by far fewer riders.

These options should be rearranged

from left to right:

Route Maps (renamed “Routes”)

The sub‐menu under Routes could be re‐organized. Currently Hanford routes has its own

“sub‐sub‐menu”, but the County routes do not. This presents an asymmetry to riders that’s

confusing. There should be either two parallel sub‐menus for Hanford and County, or all

routes should be listed in one sub‐menu.

Fares

Paratransit

Information (renamed “More Info”)

Contact us

Priority High

Need Easy access to full route and schedule

information online

Description Correct some confusing features of

mykartbus.com

Timeline 1 month or less

Budget

Basic implementation could be done in 2

staff hours. HTML timetables prepared by

Contractor might cost $500

Resources PDF of Riders’ Guide and GTFS data (for

HTML timetables)

Notes

Staff time budget assumes website can

be edited as expected through CMS.

Some websites require further

development for the changes described.


The navbar can most likely be changed within the WordPress interface by the agency, but it may be

necessary to consult the website developer or another WordPress developer.

2. Timetables: The current KART

website only includes simple

maps of routes, with a time

indicated on the map according

to the time past each hour the

bus serves key stops. This type of

information is both incomplete

(does not clearly provide service

hours) and not explained to

riders on the pages these maps

are provided. Full timetables—

preferably in HTML for

accessibility but in PDF if

necessary5—are a more complete

and common format for

conveying transit schedules, and

would be better understood by

riders. These PDFs can be pulled

directly from the printed

schedule, making a simple, nearly

immediate implementation possible.

3. Route Maps: The route maps on the website should be updated to fit the draft styles of the new

printed guide, and presented along with full schedule information. Draggable, zoomable maps

integrated into the site might be considered if a full redesign is more than a year off, but PDF maps

from the Riders’ Guide will fulfill the need.

4. Google Transit Trip Planner: Once KART is live in Google maps, a trip planner widget should become

a central feature of the home page as described under GTFS Data.

5 HTML timetables are important for both accessibility for blind and sight impaired users, and also for search engine optimization. HTML is the standard structured format for web pages, and can be easily read by “screen reader” software, which reads aloud the words on the page. Any time an image file is used, accessibility is compromised, because a machine cannot “read” an image in the same way it can words. It is possible to make PDF documents screen reader‐compatible, but even then this does not solve the second short‐coming of PDFs, which is poorer search engine optimization. Google and other search engines read and track HTML web pages and present them to users with a higher priority than “uploaded documents” like GTFS. More information regarding HTML timetables and website accessibility can be found in the report “Transit Website Accessibility” by Aaron Antrim, Trillium, http://bit.ly/transit‐website‐accessibility


Website Redesign myKARTbus.com uses generally modern

technology, has much useful information, and

after the simple alignments described in the

last section, will fulfill riders’ basic needs well.

As more riders use KART’s website though,

and as technology continues to progress in

the coming months and years, KART should

begin to look at rebuilding the website from

the ground up, tailoring the site more

precisely to the needs of local riders.

KART has internally determined, and the

consulting team agrees, that redesigning the

KART website in the mid‐term is a sound

investment. Taking the time to focus on the

riders of KART, identify their precise needs in

a website, and implement a new design that

meets those needs will considerably improve

the rider experience for many.

The most important features of a transit

website, and the ones that any future

procurement should focus on, are the tools

riders use to answer the most basic questions

about KART service. Those tools must be

thoughtfully crafted, and designed to be as useful as possible to riders. These needs are best addressed

by laying out exactly what questions riders ask, and what tools best answer them.6 Common questions

include:

“How do I get from here to there?”

o The Google trip planner widget mentioned above is an indispensible tool that should be

highlighted on the front page.

o Current timetables and detailed maps of every route should be easily found on

dedicated route pages.

“Where can you take me?”

o A complete system map, on the homepage or clearly linked from it, is important to help

riders understand the big picture

“How much does it cost?”

6 More about this approach to building a website can be found in a slideshow presentation online at http://bit.ly/great‐transit‐website (presentation originally delivered by Thomas Craig, October 27, 2015, National Rural Transit Assistance Program Technical Assistance Conference, Denver, Colorado.

Priority Moderate

Need A great centerpiece to hold together

KART’s online information

Description Hire a web development firm to build a

new mykartbus.com

Timeline 6 months to 2 years

Budget

Staff: 15‐20 staff days from RFP through

review and final delivery

Contractor: $25,000 to $30,000 plus

$2,000‐$5,000 per year maintenance and

hosting

Staff time: 8‐12 staff days for review and

organization of materials

Resources This is a major effort that will involve all

components of KART

Notes Only worth it if the staff time and budget

are both available


o Basic fare information presented as simply as possible should be reachable from the

homepage in a single click, and referenced from route pages for easy navigation.

The tools and information listed above are the most critical questions riders ask, and the entire website

should be dedicated to prioritizing the answers to those questions. Information about KCAPTA

administration and other information not‐directly related to service should be included, but demoted in

importance. The homepage is the first experience many future riders of KART will have of KART’s

passenger information. It should be thoughtfully constructed to help riders find the answer to their

question instantaneously. The image below shows the home page of mountaintransit.org, which has a

direct answer to each of the questions above easily accessible at a glance.

The current KART website is quite functional, and investing in a new site is only worth it if KART intends

to pursue the project with an experienced professional team ready to lead the design and site

development process. Quality of the end‐product, and not price, should be the primary consideration

when identifying the right team to fulfill on the project. A strong strategy for procurement would be to

set a fixed budget in the Request for Proposals, and have teams describe in their proposals what they

would do with that budget. This would allow KART to rate proposals based on the quality of the design

ideas, without dealing with proposals that cost more than can be feasibly spent or low‐cost proposals

submitted by contractors without the expertise or specific skills required.

Below is a suggested website feature check list for use in the development of a website RFP.


Feature Description Required Optional

Content

management system

(CMS)

A content management system (CMS) allows

agency staff to make routine updates to the

website through a web‐based interface. We

recommend an open‐source CMS. The most

popular is WordPress. Require ongoing

maintenance and updates of CMS software.

Responsive Design Website must be optimized in design and

development for both mobile and desktop

traffic.

Trip Planner on

home page

Based off of Google Maps

Hosted trip planner

integrated with

AVL/ITS

Implementation timeline would depend on

re‐implementation or further development of

AVL system. Preferably OpenStreetMap

(OSM) ‐based trip planner locally hosted on

site showing both potential travel paths and

current location of buses.

Designed static

system map on

home page

Attractively designed, clear system map with

each route image separately linked to the

schedule page for that route.

Interactive system

map

Zoomable interface showing route

alignments, stop locations, transfer locations,

and other pertinent information. Could be

cheaper alternative to “Hosted trip planner

integrated with AVL/ITS”.

Route pages with

HTML time tables

and route maps

showing stop

locations

HTML timetables should update with GTFS

data updates, or updates to AVL/ITS system

to reduce maintenance costs.

Easy service alert

publishing synced on

homepage and

route pages through

CMS

Service alert information should be easily

posted in one interface and synced both with

front page notification/link and specific route

schedule page pertinent to alert.


Content pages Creation of pages for fares, contact

information, management contacts, transit

agency policies, legal compliance

information, agency news, links to other

transit services and local resources,

developer resources

User login for

notification system

Customer interface where users can specify

types of information they want updates

about and the preferred channel for receiving

updates.

Bus Stop Signage The Market Assessment found that many

individuals were unaware that KART serves

areas like Fresno and Visalia. One factor

influencing this may be the lack of KART bus

stop signage and hence visibility in these

locations. In Fresno and Visalia, KART buses

use the stops of other agencies, and so while

the stop is marked, nothing at the stop

indicates that KART serves it. Bus stop signs

at these locations could effectively market

the breadth of KART’s service both to

potential riders from Kings County when they visit these cities, and to the residents of Fresno and

Visalia.

Posted Schedules Having route and schedule information

available at major bus stops is an excellent

marketing tool. It makes regular riders feel

secure and informs new riders – particularly

those making spontaneous trips such as

when a car breaks down. KART’s shelter

displays are largely missing schedule

information, as revealed in the Market

Assessment. Once the passenger

information guides are updated, that

content should be utilized to post up‐to‐date schedule information at stops with space available.

Priority Moderate

Need All stops in KART system with signs

Description Identify stops missing signs and post

Timeline 3 to 6 months

Budget Staff: Some administrative and other

costs most likely within current budgets

Priority Very high for transit center; moderate for

other locations

Need Info at major boarding locations

Description Information specific to the stop

Timeline 3 to 6 months

Budget Staff and printing of displays/signs


Transit Center

Posted schedules and maps would be particularly useful at

the Transit Center where the largest number of passengers

board, and all transfers occur. Having information posted on

the boarding platform would ease the transfer process for

riders and reduce the number of inquiries both to the

information window and dispatcher via telephone. The large

brick pillars in the middle of the transit center would serve as

the perfect place to install route map and schedule displays

directly adjacent to the boarding location for each route.

In addition to these

individual route

displays, a large

system wide map, along with fare and other critical

information, should be installed at a central location within the

transit center.

Shelters

KART bus stop

shelters have

ample space

to display

more

schedule

information.

The panel on the right side of advertising in many KART

shelters has a blank area that should be filled with a

current system map.

Bus Stop Schedule Holders

Pictured above, a KART bus stop sign is equipped with

a holder for a schedule display that remains empty.

Schedules at all stops are ideal, but are most important

at shelters and at stops near important stores,

businesses, schools, medical facilities, and other highly

trafficked areas.

Customized information.

In the near‐term, the public displays described above

could be made by simply extracting pages from the

printed schedule information, similar to using PDFs for


the website. In the mid‐ to long‐term, this information should be specifically designed for the locations

in question. Information tailored to individual stations and stops can help the rider quickly orient

themselves within the larger system. This could start with simple “you‐are‐here” stickers on maps, but

longer term, could include schedule and map information designed to highlight the schedule from the

current point in the system, or map services that are relevant from the stop in question. The sample

display shown on the prior page is from Mammoth Lakes, CA. It includes a system map with “you are

here sticker, and highlights the routes serving the specific stop.

Information Displays in High-Traffic Locations Lobbies at key destinations such as medical

clinics, social service agency offices, senior

centers or schools are excellent locations for

transit information distribution. Displays at

such high traffic locations can both build

awareness for the system and make sure that

information is readily available when a need

arises. A number of gatekeepers interviewed

as part of this plan indicated an interest in

transit information displays for their lobbies.

Consider creating displays for high traffic

locations that include a permanent mounted

display in combination with a take‐one rack.

The display shown at the right was created

for the Summit Stage in Summit County, Colorado. It

includes a system map and frequency chart for the

system, plus pockets for schedule booklets. It could be

customized with a “you‐are‐here” sticker to help users

easily see what their transit options are from their

current location.

These displays can be created using the graphics

developed for the news passenger guides and pre‐

fabricated display units which can be purchased on‐line

at sources such as:

www.beemak.com

www.displays2go.com

www.display‐world.com

Priority Moderate

Need More physical places where KART

information can be accessed

Description Set up a system of information displays at

major destinations and in outlying

communities.

Timeline 6 months to 2 years

Budget Ongoing involvement of KART staff

Notes

Displays must be integrated into

passenger information distribution

system


There are many styles of displays ranging from simple

brochure holders to counter top, wall mounted or

free standing models. These fixtures can be purchased

in small quantities and customized with the addition

of a digital print and a supply of KART passenger

guides. In some cases, simply providing a laminated

copy of the system map for posting on a bulletin

board may be enough to make a big difference for

riders visiting the institution with the lobby display.

In addition to lobbies and high traffic areas inside

Hanford, information displays should be placed in the

rural communities served by KARTS county routes.

The Market Assessment identified that knowledge of

service to these communities was lacking. Having a central hub within

each community where information was consistently displayed and

always up to date would build awareness and make access to

information easier for residents of these towns. For example in Lemoore,

the main stop near the Chamber of Commerce and train tracks, which

will soon connect to local service, could have information tailored to

local riders, but also general information about the KART system to give

those riders more knowledge about the places they can reach by KART.

In other communities, a grocery store or town office might be an

appropriate location.

These displays will only be effective if they are consistently stocked with

up‐to‐date information. Thus, while it would be ideal to have displays

everywhere there is a group of riders, a network should be planned and

built out that can be successfully maintained. A clear system will be

needed to manage the ongoing maintenance of displays, to be sure all

are stocked with the right materials. KART should Integrate tasks

regarding information displays into the organizational systems that will

be mentioned in the Gatekeeper Network section below. Through those

systems, these maintenance tasks could be tied to relevant stakeholders

in order to maximize the efficiency of managing the needs of each

different display (see “Put in Place Client Relationship Management System”).


GATEKEEPER NETWORK Many organizations serve as “gatekeepers” for potential transit riders. These include social service

agencies, schools and colleges, youth programs, employment programs and large employers, support

organizations for the disabled and elderly and medical services. These organizations, and particularly

their front line employees, are often charged with identifying transportation options for getting their

clients to programs, appointments, training, classes, interviews and jobs. As a result, they have the

potential to serve as “salespeople” for KART.

Establishing and cultivating a network of these gatekeepers will be fundamental to reaching citizens who

would greatly benefit from KART, but do not yet know it. Gatekeeper outreach programs should be

proactive and wide‐ranging but should focus in particular on institutions that represent significant

numbers of current and potential riders. These include:

West Hills College


Kings County High Schools

Senior Centers and Senior Apt Complexes

Social Service programs that work with low income, disabled and limited English proficiency

populations

Corcoran Prison

Lemoore Naval Air Station

Medical Offices who refer patients to specialists in Fresno or Visalia

The strategies outlined in this section address the marketing objective of creating partnerships with

these gatekeepers in order to market KART to their constituents. These include:

Implement Client Relationship Management System Establish regular communications Meet face‐to‐face with key stakeholders Conduct train‐the‐trainer sessions Provide tools to partners Implement targeted marketing programs


Implement Client Relationship Management(CRM) System Effectively maintaining the large number of

relationships with vital stakeholders at

institutions across Kings County is an

institutional responsibility that is difficult to

manage. The number and variety of needs

requires a simultaneously broad and

personalized approach. No single agency

staff member or even the full staff can be

expected to proactively maintain these

relationships without a system that helps

them organize the work effectively. The

technologies of sales and client management

offer suites of tools that could be very

effective for this matter.

Most likely a tool like Highrise7 or another

light‐weight, low‐cost option is most

appropriate. There is no need for KART to

track metrics on the success of particular contacts. Rather, what is needed is a frame work that allows

and encourages certain structures to be set up easily. These include:

Accessible by all individuals in an organization

Organized storage of individual contacts and contact information, grouped into organizations

Ability to save detailed specific notes on who contact is and how they can work with KART

Saving record history of emails through a bcc’d “dropbox” that ties emails to individuals and

their organizations

Easy place to store notes from phone calls

Syncing with Constant Contact or other mail merge software, to track receipt of group messages

delivered through those services

Tasks tied to individuals with due dates and email reminders

For the number of contacts maintained by KART, a software program that performs each of these

functions would be very inexpensive (Highrise would be $24 per month, and free options do exist). But

the value to the institution would be considerable. Such a tool would ease the group management of

key contacts and ensure that agency responsibilities for communication could be mapped out in

advance and executed on a schedule with relatively little overhead.

7 Software product sold by 37Signals, https://highrisehq.com/. Trillium uses this software internally but does not benefit in any manner from the recommendation of its use.

Priority High

Need Organizational system to manage KART’s

many partner

Description

Organize all contact and partnership

information on various local

organizations and contacts in a database

accessible by all KART staff

Timeline 6 months

Budget Staff: 3‐5 staff days for data entry

Expenses: ~$300 per year

Resources CRM software

Notes

Trillium utilizes Highrise internally and

believes it to be appropriate for KART’s

needs


Establish Regular Communication Once a system is in place that helps track

and manage communication with

stakeholders, the next step will be to

determine what communication is

appropriate for each organization/individual,

and establish a regular process for keeping

that level of communication ongoing. If an

organization is not communicated with

frequently enough, the gatekeeper there is

likely to feel detached from KART. While a

gatekeeper with a passion for and

knowledge about KART’s services can be a great ally, a gatekeeper that feels out of touch with KART can

also hurt marketing efforts significantly, by passing on their confusion and lack of understanding when

questions are asked. Proactive and consistent communication that calls them into KART’s “inner circle”

is the first step to making them effective marketing channels for KART’s services.

Topics for communication will be diverse, including topics such as:

Service changes or disruptions

Updated passenger information tools

Solicitation of train‐the‐trainer opportunities (discussed below)

Fare or fare media adjustments

Highlights of specific services – such as intercity routes to Fresno and Visalia

The appropriate communications for each stakeholder KART works with can be set up in the CRM

software recommended above so that due dates for needed communications can be tracked easily.

What constitutes regular communication is dependent upon what type of institution the gatekeeper

represents. The communication needs for each individual will be unique, but many common groups will

predominate, which will allow KART to identify particular strategies for working with each. Some groups,

especially the schools served by KART, are unique enough to warrant an individual approach, but also

share many commonalities. The “Implement Targeted Marketing Programs” section below discusses

specific strategies for working with key gatekeepers.

Priority High

Need Consistent contact with all stakeholders

Description

Determine the level of contact necessary

for each stakeholder, and set up systems

to ensure that contact happens

Timeline 12 months


Resources CRM system described above


Meet Face-to-Face With Key Gatekeepers As part of the regular communication, it is

important that KART staff meet certain key

stakeholders face‐to‐face with some

regularity. This will ensure an effective

working relationship where the needs of

large numbers of riders are involved—for

example when a large institution is served by

KART and many of its members rely on KART

for transportation. The most important

institutions in Kings County are

West Hills College


Kingsview Behavioral Health Center

Kings County Human Services Agency

Corcoran State Prison

These institutions each represent many people who do or have the potential to make frequent trips on

KART service, and each is either located right off a KART line or even has service specifically tailored to

the institution.

Key staff at these institutions should feel comfortable picking up the phone and reaching out to KART for

help when the need arises. That level of familiarity can be difficult for business partners, who want to

respect the time and workload of organizations they rely on. Meeting in person can help partners

understand that they have special access to you. In the long‐term, that means faster action and better

coordination when the needs arises for teamwork.

By no means must all communication be done via in person meeting. But once a year travelling to the

local site, walking to the bus stops that serve these institutions with those representatives and hearing

their ideas for improvements, and letting them know what KART’s plans for the coming year are, will buy

a level of good will that pays dividends continuously.

Conduct Train-the-Trainer Sessions In order to reach the many riders who are not currently riding KART, it would be useful to have a team

of staff members able to work directly with new riders to give them the information they need and

answer questions. KART does not have the staff to reach every rider. However, many of the institutions

that have already been described, especially the social service, medical and educational facilities, have

large staffs who can serve as a highly effective team of transit recruiters and trainers. To expand the

reach of KART’s relationships with important organizations in Kings County, “Train the Trainer” sessions

offer an excellent way to build a relationship with the organization beyond the primary gatekeeper, and

Priority High

Need Face‐to‐face contact with key

stakeholders

Description

Determine the level of contact necessary

for each stakeholder, and set up systems

to ensure that contact happens

Timeline 6 months




to make sure that the people who advocate for KART on a day‐to‐day basis have the knowledge they

need to do so effectively.

Social service agencies, schools, medical facilities, and big businesses already hold staff meetings, and

often times “front line” employees (case workers, teachers, nurses and receptionists) have meetings

focused on their customer service position. That means there are already groups meeting around Kings

County where a short presentation and update on KART with training about where to find printed

information, what’s available online, and how to use Google Transit would be appreciated and help

them to promote KART services.

Stakeholders interviewed as part of the market assessment indicated a high level of interest in having a

KART representative participate in their front‐line staff meetings. In addition, they suggested other

venues for “training” gatekeepers such as the Spiritual Health Group sponsored by Behavioral Health.

Conduct Outreach Presentations to Potential Users One of the primary strategies which KART staff is currently using involves outreach presentations to

potential riders groups such as clients at Kings View, schools and senior residences. These can be

extremely effective in providing hands‐on traveling training for audiences unfamiliar with using transit.

By working with a broader group of gatekeepers to solicit presentation opportunities, KART can expand

the reach of these efforts. It will be important that the presentations be targeted to the needs, travel

priorities and experience level of the specific audiences.

Provide Marketing Tools to Partners KART needs printed information and online

tools in order to inform its riders, and

similarly, KARTs champions need those

information and tools in order to act as

strong surrogates for KART. To facilitate the

role of gatekeepers as referral sources for

KART:

Be sure gatekeepers and other local

contacts have plenty of printed

schedules on hand. Track how many you

give out, and ask them if they need more

if it’s been a while.

Provide widgets for adding to their websites. These could provide a direct link to MyKARTbus.com

embedded in an image featuring the KART logo, or to the Google trip planner after implementation.

If there’s information you need a gatekeeper to pass on to the people in their community, you can

attach to the email a PDF poster or flyer which can be easily printed out. Saving them time by

investing yours will encourage them to put in effort that will get the notice out.

Priority Moderate

Need Help stakeholders advocate for KART

effectively and easily

Description

Provide customized tools and

information for stakeholders pre‐

formatted to their needs

Timeline 6 months




As described above, lobbies make a great place for customized displays, so be sure to check with

each partner about whether they can provide a location for a display of KART information.

Implement Targeted Marketing Programs The various strategies suggested above have

been generalized to describe the ways in

which KART should connect with the

gatekeepers for important organizations in

Kings County. But, as mentioned above, each

organization that KART works with will have

different expectations and needs. KART

should work with each gatekeeper to

identify the optimal channels and messages

for communicating with their constituents.

Below are recommendations for working

with gatekeepers to implement targeted

marketing programs for individual market

segments. These are based on outreach to

gatekeepers conducted in support of this

plan.

Colleges

The two colleges in Kings County, West Hills

College and College of the Sequoias (COS),

both provide a very large number of riders to

KART, and deserve perhaps more focus than

any two other single institutions in the County. The onboard survey found that a significant number of

riders (7%) are travelling with a COS pass, and the large number of student riders on the route 20

demonstrate the number of West Hills students who ride KART. Both colleges are served by stops on or

adjacent to campus, including COS campuses in both Hanford and Visalia.

Face‐to‐face relationships with the administrators of each campus are critical, and should be held on at

least a yearly basis, but could even be considered more often. Proactive communication and seeking

feedback is very important for these colleges because of the number of riders that they serve and

because schedule changes can seriously disrupt class schedules and cause conflicts for students and

professors.

Many of the strategies discussed previously in the Marketing Plan should be used to communicate with

Kings County colleges including

Customized passenger information displays in high traffic locations on campus and at the campus

bus stop

Priority

Colleges ‐ Very HighSocial Service Agencies – HighMedical Facilities – ModerateSenior Residences – Moderate

High Schools – ModerateEmployers ‐ Low

Face‐to‐face Yearly or as appropriate

Email Quarterly or better

Strategies

Customized passenger

information displays

Train the trainer sessions

On‐site travel training

presentations

Customized trip planning widgets

for websites

PDF posters and flyers

Other promotional efforts

identified in conjunction with

gatekeeper


Train the trainer sessions for student services staff

Customized trip planning widgets for college websites

PDF notices and/or posters for campus bulletin boards

KART staff should meet with the colleges prior to the start of each academic year to schedule

participation in back‐to‐school orientation or events and to insure that on‐campus information displays

are up‐to‐date and fully stocked.

Additionally, KART should focus on working with the college administrators to provide fare options that

meet the needs of students and offer revenue generation for KART. Fare partnerships can be structured

in a number of ways, such as:

Prepaid programs in which all students ride free with a valid ID (such as currently in place with COS)

Semester Pass program which would involve selling the college or students a pass good for the full

duration of the academic semester. This type of pass could be sold on campus (for example through

the campus cashier or bookstore) at the start of the semester when students received their financial

aid. It could also be sold in volume to the college to give to students in qualifying programs.

Fare programs like these encourage more students to use transit and provide the transit system with

guaranteed fare revenue.

Social Service Agencies

Social service agencies are critical partners for KART as they serve many of the systems core target

groups – the low income, persons with disabilities and seniors. Social service case workers can be among

KART’s most effective “salespeople” as they assist their clients in reaching medical services, job

opportunities and other destinations.

The Social Service Transportation Advisory Committee provides an excellent starting point for working

with social service agencies most of which have representatives on the group. Key among these are:

Kings County Department of Human Services

Kings County Job Training Office

Kings County Commission on Aging

Kings County Department of Public Health

Kings View Counseling Center

Central Valley Regional Center

An initial meeting with the representative for each agency should be used to identify the most

appropriate strategies for use at that agency. Opportunities which should be explored with each

gatekeeper include:

Potential for train‐the‐trainer sessions

Opportunities for travel training presentations to clients

Location for permanent transit information display in lobby

Channels for communicating service changes or updates – bulletin board posters, web posts, etc.


Potential for inclusion of transit information in orientation or new client packets

Need for customized information flyers – e.g. how to access a specific location via KART

Individuals who should receive regular email updates from KART

Once it is clear how best to work with each organization, KART can initiate the appropriate

communications and outreach efforts including communications at least quarterly. An annual meeting

can be used to reconnect and clarify or adjust the communications plan.

Medical Institutions

Medical institutions, like social service agencies, are important gatekeepers because they frequently

serve two of the most disadvantaged target markets of KART, the elderly and people with disabilities.

Transit is a lifeline for many residents who need to access these services, and so identifying and

communicating frequently and effectively with gatekeepers at local clinics is important.

Medical institutions must know in advance, for example, if there will be a change of location of a stop

that their riders use to access the facility. Changes in access may result in complications for some clients.

That means feedback prior to the final decision should be collected as well.

KARTS’s approach to major medical facilities should be similar to that for social service agencies with

annual face‐to‐face meetings and at least quarterly contact via email. (This effort will be made easier by

the fact that Adventist Health operates many of the medical facilities within Kings County). These

organizations should be offered a variety of ways to help them advocate for KART, including:

Customized passenger information displays

Train the trainer sessions for front desk staff and other front line employees

Customized trip planning widgets for websites

PDF notices of service changes

Even smaller clinics and doctor’s offices should be included in the list for email communication. Because

Hanford does not have any large medical facilities, patients are often referred to specialists in Fresno or

Visalia. As KART serves these cities, but only infrequently, the knowledge of KART’s intercity schedule

could help doctors ensure that the appointments they set up for their patients who rely on transit are

accessible by KART.

Senior Residences

Senior residences, like View Road Apartments in Hanford, can provide KART with direct access to older

individuals who may or may not have experience using KART. Once they learn to use the bus, KART can

provide these seniors with access to medical appointments, shopping and recreation. Marketing

channels which can be accessed by working through the managers at senior residences include:

Travel training sessions with residents (for example, with the seniors who attend the nutrition

program lunches at View Road apartments).

Information displays in common areas at the apartment complexes.

Targeted flyers which can be distributed to residents by the management office or given to new

residents when they move in.


High Schools

There are four high schools served by KART buses. These include:

Lemoore High School (2000 students)

Sierra Pacific High School (850 students)

Hanford High School

Hanford West High School

These schools represent thousands of young people with the potential to use transit to get to school, for

after school activities and on weekends and summer. High school students are not nearly as likely as

college students to utilize public transportation for a variety of reasons, but still make up a notable

portion of KART ridership.

High schools can be communicated with in a moderately consistent fashion because they all have similar

calendars and similar tools for communicating with their students and their students’ parents.

Gatekeepers at high schools should be communicated with at least twice a year, but the timing of these

communications is important. Many decisions are made and information distributed at the beginning of

the school year and after Winter break, so communications should be timed to provide resources early

enough in advance of those times to allow each school to distribute the information effectively.

Channels which schools commonly use to communicate with students and parents include:

School bulletin

School announcements

Electronic bulletin boards on campus

Notices on a parent/student section of school website

Informational table at back to school night

Different schools will offer different opportunities. For example, the high school in Lemoore said they

would be willing to do a specific mailing to parents about the new Lemoore services, if KART would pay

the postage cost.

When schedule or stop changes affect service to a school, providing notices and PDF signs to print out

and post would help prevent confusion on the part of students who may only use KART for the purpose

of school and expect it not to change. Similarly, communications at the start of each semester can let

students and parents know that KART offers an option for getting to school or getting home from after

school activities. Communications at the end of the school year can let students know that KART is an

easy, inexpensive way to get to summer recreation and jobs.

Major Employers with Specialized Service

As discussed in the Market Assessment, KART’s service is not fast enough to attract most work

commuters. However, KART does provide highly customized service to two major employment sites –

the Corcoran State Prison and the Lemoore Naval Air Station. And in both cases, employees receive a

transit subsidy making KART a very cost effective commute mode.


KART should work closely with these two employers to insure that services are timed to meet the needs

of employees, that employees are aware of the services and to promote the relevant benefits including

the fare subsidies.

Corcoran State Prison

The prison has about 2000 employees. The administrative employees who work 8 AM to 4 PM are

the group most likely to utilize the bus service. Services hours should be timed to coincide with this

shift. Employees receive a 75% discount on public transit passes from the state.

The Human Resources staff at the prison recommends three channels for communicating with

employees about the KART service:

IST Bulletin online—which goes to all employees with email access

Posted flyers at various locations (offices and cafeteria)

Flyer distributed with paychecks

Lemoore NAS

KART also offers commuter service to the Lemoore Naval Air Station, which can be used both by

military personnel and civilian workers commuting to the base. The NAS representative at SSTAC

said that the Hanford Sentinel Facebook Page has a base section that is well utilized. Likely there are

also other targeted channels that could be used to make base commuters aware of the Route 21

service.

In addition to these employers with highly customized services, KART serves a large number of

employers staffed by lower wage and part‐time service workers who are likely to find KART an easy and

attractive way to commute. For example, Walmart and other large businesses at the Hanford Mall and

surrounding area are served frequently by the Route 6, which is as important for employees of Walmart

as it is for people who shop there. Store managers of key businesses like Walmart do not need to be met

with (and might would not want to take the time) but time‐efficient email notices including PDFs to print

out for their staff could help to communicate important changes or when seeking feedback from riders.


BRANDING Branding is marketing at its most basic level. It is how we identify a product and any communication

associated with it. Branding is what builds consistency among the various elements of a market program

and hence a cohesive image in the mind of the potential customer. A strong, clear brand will help to

achieve the objective of broad visibility and awareness.

Consistent logo The Market Assessment identified that the

KART logo is not used consistently. There are

slight variations depending on the media in

which it is displayed, and it is absent from

some key platforms on which it should be

featured, most notably the KART buses.

Designing and maintaining the consistency of

a single logo for KART would help increase

the instant recognizability of the service and

everything associated with it, and keep it in

the minds of potential riders as an available

option.

If funding is limited, this process can be

accomplished in house, and the easiest

process forward is to pick one of the current

iterations of the KART logo, declare it the

official logo, and use only it.

If funds are available for a more deliberative

process, it may make sense to take the time to engage a graphic artist and branding specialist to design

a new logo for the system. The fact that KART has a name but no single logo is an opportunity to fill that

gap with something that can form the backbone of a future KART brand. A graphic artist could help

adapt a new logo to make it work across various media with slightly different adaptations that do not

appear inconsistent to people who know the brand. The same artist could also design other branded

materials for KART, including schedules, letterhead, poster templates, bus stop signs should they be

redesigned, and, perhaps most importantly, vehicle graphics.

Priority Moderate

Need Consistent image for the KART brand

Description Create a new logo or officiate an existing

one, and use it in all applications

Timeline One year

Budget

Staff: half a day to organize branded

materials; 2‐4 days of staff time for full

branding project

Expenses: Full branding project could

cost $10 – 20,000, including vehicle

application design.

Notes

Regardless of whether full branding

project is pursued, logo should be

clarified prior to KART website redesign

at the latest


Vehicle graphics KART buses are driving billboards that are

already being paid for, but are underutilized.

Each KART bus is a generally plain white bus

with “KING AREA RURAL TRANSIT” (but not

“KART”) on the top near the front of the bus.

As discussed in the Market Assessment, the

buses often blend in with the many vehicles

on the road. By more boldly branding the

buses so that they catch the attention of the

thousands of people who see them every

day, KART can effectively reach more people

daily than by any other means. Application

of the logo, color and other graphics to KART

vehicles has great potential to increase

KART’s visibility within the communities

served.

Bolder branding on vehicles can support

many of the other strategies identified in this

report. For example, increasing awareness of

new routes, and routes outside Hanford is

much easier when residents in the affected

communities have seen and noticed a large

bus prominently displaying the KART logo.

Seeing these buses travel through the streets

helps create understanding of the route

network and thus also supports quality

passenger information.

Elements to consider in the redesign of bus

graphics:

Base color other than white to

differentiate KART buses from other

vehicles

Consistent and prominent use of the logo

Inclusion of the website address and phone number

Highlighting major communities served by KART (Hanford, Lemoore, Corcoran, Laton, Fresno,

Visalia)

Priority Moderate

Need Buses that effectively promote KART’s

brand

Description

Either paint KART buses a bolder color

and feature the KART logo more clearly,

or hire a graphic artist to design a wrap

Timeline 6 months

Budget Direct Expenses for painting or wrapping

vehicles: $3,000‐$10,000 per vehicle

Resources Finalized KART logo

Notes

If a wrap is designed, that budget would

be covered in the branding project

described above

Before and after example of increased visibility resulting from vehicle graphics


Depending on the graphic design elements, two approaches can be used to increase the visibility of

buses. One is to paint the bus the desired base color and then to apply vinyl graphics over the paint. A

second is to fully wrap the vehicle with the desired color/design. In either case, the design can be

structured to accommodate exterior transit advertising spaces.

To minimize costs, rebranding of buses can occur as new vehicles are acquired, so that the cost is

embedded in the original purchase cost.


PROMOTION TO BUILD AWARENESS If branding is defining what KART is and looks like so riders can recognize it, promoting is telling them

what it has to offer and how it might benefit them. The more people know about KART and the services

it provides, the more likely they will be to use it to get around Kings County. While KART does not need

to implement an elaborate advertising campaign or spend significant budget towards promoting its

services, there are a few tools available to reach a broad audience for little money, and systems that can

help KART integrate those promotions with the great work it is already doing to let people know about

its services. This section discusses three diverse, low cost marketing approaches:

Self‐promotion on unsold ad space

Internal calendar for promotion management

Every Door Direct Mail

Self-promotion on unsold ad space KART already sells space on its buses to

advertisers, and not all of the ad space is

sold. This unsold space is essentially a free

resource available to KART. If businesses see

value in paying for this space, surely KART

should use it when the only cost is that of

creating the ads. These opportunities

include:

Exterior ad panels

Interior overhead ad space

Inside and outside panels at bus shelters

However, because these locations are all

already associated with KART, advertising in

these spaces should focus on providing new

information that it is likely current riders

might not have. There is no need for

“general promotion” on the side of a

shelter—the person can already see that is it

a bus shelter. But the Market Assessment identified that there were plenty of KART services that had

low awareness, and KART is also offering new technologies that deserve promotion. Ideas of what to

promote include:

Google Transit

Realtime info

New Lemoore routes

Fresno/Visalia routes

Priority Moderate

Need More inexpensive advertising for KART

Description Fill unused advertising space with

information about KART services

Timeline

Implement a plan this Summer to cycle

advertisements into open spaces by end

of year.

Budget

Staff: less than a day

Contractor: graphic artist and printing

($1,000‐$1500 annually)

Notes Promote new technology and routes with

low awareness


Low fares (a person walking past a shelter might consider riding if they realized they had the buck in

their pocket)

Internal Calendar for Promotion Management There are a wide variety of no‐cost ways in

which KART can communicate news about

the system to the community and its riders.

These include a mix of conventional media

(e.g. newspaper articles), in‐house

communications (on‐board posters/

handouts, website), outreach efforts,

communications through gatekeeper

partners as previously discussed and social

media (e.g. Facebook).

KART already performs a number of these

promotional functions, most notably outreach presentations and appearances by Ryder, the service

mascot.

To maximize the exposure received, while minimizing the staff time required, it is recommended that

KART staff develop a “news and event calendar” which will drive the content for all of these

communications channels.

The news calendar should identify messages to be delivered during each month of the year, as well as

the audiences/channels that are relevant for the specific message. For example, relevant topics might

include:

Service changes

New vehicles

New shelters or other facilities improvements

Introduction of Google Transit trip planning

Introduction of new passenger guides or website

Tie‐ins with national or regional activities such as Earth Day, Dump the Pump Day, Try Transit Week,

Veterans Day, etc.

Service to Thursday Night Market or other local events

Periodic feature articles about specific services – such as service to medical facilities in Fresno.

It should then identify the channels to be used for each message. These might include some or all of the

following:

News Release

E‐mail to gatekeepers

Poster on‐board buses and/or at Transit Center

Priority High

Need Consistent approach to diverse

promotion needs

Description Create a calendar system that proactively

reminds staff of promotion tasks

Timeline Begin building calendar immediately, and

let the transition happen over time

Budget Staff: will save staff time by encouraging

smoother workflows


News item on KART website

Facebook post

Text alert to passengers

Participation in outreach event

Finally, it should specify the timing of the message and whether it is a single announcement or

something that will be promoted over time.

One example of how the calendar might be used to drive communications efforts would be the

introduction of Google Transit Trip Planning (“Google Has Just Put KART On the Map!”). KART could use

the same content to create:

News Release: To all local media. Focus on the fact that getting transit information is now as

easy as getting driving directions, both for local trips and for trips to and throughout Fresno and

Visalia.

E‐mail to Social Service Gatekeepers: Focus on how this will make it easy for case workers to

provide their clients with trip plans for appointments and interviews. Provide a short article for

them to include in their in‐house newsletter or email communications.

PDF Poster: Create an 8 ½” X 11” PDF poster to send along with email, asking gatekeepers to

post on their bulletin boards.

On‐board Poster: Let riders know that they can now use Google Transit trip planner to plan

trips, including transfers between routes and to FAX and Visalia Transit.

Website Posting: Article on how to use the new trip planner and what other connecting systems

are in Google Transit.

Facebook Posts: Post short message about the Trip Planner with links to the home page to

encourage people to try it.

Thursday Night Market provides another an example of how the news calendar could drive promotional

activities over an entire season:

One month in advance of the first Thursday Market:

– Issue a news release that KART will again be detouring to accommodate the market while

offering the easiest way for local residents to enjoy the event.

– Announce the yearly onset of the event on Facebook and the KART website.

– Send an email to KARTs stakeholder contact list about the detour and the benefits of riding

KART to the event, including a PDF poster.

The day before each event during the season:

– Post to Facebook about the sponsor of that Thursday Night Market, and a theme to follow in

the Facebook post about the event, or a vendor at the event to write a note and post a

picture about

– Text to KART riders about the detour and the event.

In advance of the final market for the season, the Facebook post and text could remind riders

that this is the last opportunity to take KART to the market for the year


By laying out tasks ahead of time and providing a framework to complete them, a promotional calendar

would help drive consistent and useful information in KART’s marketing efforts.

Coordinating the various promotional efforts to maximize exposure for each “news item,” requires

organization and consistency. We recommend setting up systems that will allow staff to schedule and

track the various activities, providing reminders of when each task needs to be performed.

The easiest, free implementation of this idea would be to create a free email account associated with a

calendar application. (for example—Gmail and Google Apps.) KART staff could then schedule various

tasks:

Set up repeating events on the calendar for routine tasks like checking on whether key locations

have enough passenger information materials.

Plot one‐time events where someone from the agency will need to be present or a news release

needs to be issued.

Include recurring reminders to post about certain types of content on social media, or on KART or

other websites.

For all of these events, KART could set up automatic notifications to remind the person responsible for

managing the specific promotional task. This free system would give a framework accessible by all KART

staff that would keep the wheels of promotion turning by proactively communicating on upcoming

tasks.


Every Door Direct Mail To promote ridership on KART’s rural routes,

promotional efforts need to targeted to

those who live in the small communities

served by the routes, providing them with

information specific to their own

communities. This can be best achieved

through targeted direct mail.

Every Door Direct Mail, a product of the

United States Postal Service,8 is a reasonably

priced way to reach everyone who resides in

a specified geographical area. The mailing

area can simply be identified on a map, with

no mailing list required. The post card is then

delivered to every postal patron within the

defined area.

The price of sending a post card (up to 12” X 15” in size) is 17.6 cents per residence, plus the cost of

designing and printing. But for a physical object that will likely be in the hand of a resident, even if only

for a moment, this presents a strong opportunity to connect with a new rider.

Because KART’s service is intrinsically tied to the geography of the region, Every Door Direct Mail is

exactly the type of targeted mass mailing KART would want to do. The Laton route is a good example of

where this might be an effective tactic. KART could focus a mailing on the areas near to bus stops, in

order to reach residents who may very well have an occasional or consistent need for the bus, but just

do not know when it runs or never think about it.

While a sound marketing investment, the cost of a mailing is not trivial, and so time should be taken to

design a mailing that is both eye‐catching and provides all the information the rider needs. It would be

wise to engage a graphic artist to design a post card that will make a strong impression, and hopefully

get the recipient to pause. The reality is that the card will be sorted quickly—people go through their

mail fast looking for what is important and throwing out the “junk”. That means the opportunity to

make an impression is short.

In addition to clear branding, include a headline that is short (8 words or less) but offers value. Mention

destination that can be reached or a local landmark where KART stops. Remind riders of how low KART’s

fares are, or that you can transfer to Fresno or Visalia. Include a website and phone number so they can

get in touch.

8 https://eddm.usps.com/

Priority Low

Need Some routes have low awareness by

residents served

Description Send geographically targeted mail to

promote services with low awareness

Timeline As budget is available

Budget

Staff: less than half a day per mailing

Contractor: graphic artist (~$200 per

mailing)

Printing and mailing: less than 50 cents

per residence


NEW LEMOORE ROUTES In June, KART began operating two new routes in the town of Lemoore. Two county routes had already

operated through Lemoore, on their way to either the naval station or to West Hills College, but these

new routes remain entirely within the town of Lemoore, expanding the service area and offering a new

level of mobility to Lemoore residents.

The introduction of a new route is an opportunity to attract new riders both through expansion of the

area serviced and through the hype associated with something new. While it is too late to launch a

campaign in advance of the service introduction, it is still recommended that KART act quickly to

leverage the “newness” of the Lemoore routes and to attract new riders.

Further, as with schedule changes on existing routes, full printed and online information prior to the

launch of a new service is a necessity. The service cannot be said to have been fully launched prior to

schedules being available through standard means. As of the drafting of this report, no route 30 and 31

information appears on the KART website and a Google search for “Kings County Kart new Lemoore

routes” turned up only a news story by the Hanford Sentinel.9

The following strategies are designed to raise as much awareness of the new Lemoore routes as possible

without expending significant funds. The goal of providing quality passenger information can be

addressed via the strategies in the prior sections of this Marketing Plan. The goal of these strategies is to

put the knowledge of new local routes in Lemoore in front of as many riders as possible in as short a

time as possible, on the assumption that many of them will seek more information themselves. Because

they will seek more information, it is absolutely critical that schedules be published on the KART website

for these services immediately, so they are ready for riders who seek them.

9 http://hanfordsentinel.com/news/local/kart‐adds‐two‐new‐bus‐routes‐in‐lemoore/article_4a328478‐d5c8‐5d63‐b9d1‐d0c58381b53f.html


Every Door Direct Mail In the promotion section above, we

suggested the Every Door Direct Mail tool.

This is an affordable and effective way to get

a post card into the hands of residents of a

target area and is ideal for the introduction of

a new route. The mailer can be thoughtfully

designed to catch the eye and create

awareness of the new service.

The mailing should reach out to residents

living in close proximity to the new Lemoore

routes, and should include the following:

KART’s name and logo

Eye‐catching design

Short (3‐8 words) announcement of

new bus service in Lemoore

Website address where more

information can be found

Telephone number for KART

customer service

Call to action—in addition to the large announcement text, think of a creative way to ask the

residents of Lemoore to give the service a try

A map of the new route, and an outline of basic service information, as well as where full

schedules can be found

One possible strategy might be to make the postcard itself valid for one ride on the bus. This could turn

a call to action into an incentive, and build some additional good will right when the rider is introduced

to KART.

Priority Moderate

Need Mass communication about the new

Lemoore service

Description Send a postcard to residents of Lemoore

using Every Door Direct Mail

Timeline As soon as funding is available

Budget

Staff: less than half a day

Contractor: graphic artist (~$200)

Printing and mailing: about 30‐35 cents

per residence

Resources USPS “Every Door Direct Mail”

Notes

While cheap for the number of

households reached, the service does still

cost some funds, and could be skipped if

funding is not available currently


Lemoore Leader While KART has spoken with the Hanford

Sentinel about the new routes, the Lemoore

Leader10 has not yet run a story about the

new Lemoore service. Every stakeholder we

spoke to in Lemoore mentioned this online

newspaper. (For comparison, the Hanford

Sentinel was not mentioned by any

stakeholder we spoke with in Hanford.)

Reaching out to the Leader would be a great

way to partner with local institutions, and the

staff might have further quality suggestions

of how to reach out to the residents of

Lemoore. The story could be a big one for the

town, for the same reason why the service

will be so important. By widening the reach

of transit in Lemoore, KART is offering connections not just to the rest of town, but to the rest of the

County, Fresno, Visalia, and beyond. Best of all, this strategy costs nothing but a little staff time.

General Outreach The final strategy for the New Lemoore

routes is an extension of the gatekeeper

strategies featured earlier in the Marketing

Plan. In a nutshell: connect with the

gatekeepers in Lemoore who can amplify the

voice of KART as loudly as possible, and

provide them with the basic tools to help

potential riders find you.

We identified the following organizations as

likely candidates to help KART connect with

Lemoore:

Lemoore Parks and Recreation

Lemoore Chamber of Commerce

Lemoore High School

Large apartment complexes within

Lemoore

10 http://www.mylemooreleader.com/

Priority Moderate

Need

Communication about the new Lemoore

delivered through trusted local

organizations

Description Call and email Lemoore Leader to

encourage a story about the new KART

routes

Timeline Immediately

Budget Staff: half a day if an interview is

scheduled

Notes The cost is so low that this contact should

be made immediately.

Priority High

Need

Communication about the new Lemoore

delivered through trusted local

organizations

Description Call and email Lemoore contacts to

coordinate short‐term efforts to

introduce new service

Timeline This month

Budget

Staff: up to 2 or 3 staff days spent

communicating and delivering resources

Contractor: graphic artist (~$200)

Notes

Process should be begun quickly as

relying on local partners may require

time.


Reach out to these parties to identify what actions can be taken short‐term to reach their constituents.

They can help you to identify fast and successful ways of getting information into potential riders’ hands

along with a “reference” from a trusted local organization. For example, KART could work with Lemoore

Parks and Recreation to have signs posted on bulletin boards at their facilities, or with the Chamber of

Commerce to set up a small display near the main bus stop in town (near their offices). The high school,

which represents a particular constituency that might be attracted to transit, could put a notice in the

bulletin, and send a notice to parents. Lemoore High School could be an especially strong partner during

the upcoming months because the administration will have the attention of parents across the city

during Back‐to‐School season.


Budget and Timeline KCAPTA has an annual operating budget of about $3.5 million. We generally suggest that transit

agencies spend 1‐2% of operating expenditures on marketing, beyond basic passenger information,

which is essential to service delivery. Because KART’s service is focused on target markets that already

have high ridership, 1% or $35,000 is probably an appropriate level for KART to spend on marketing .

The one exception to staying within that budget would be if KART chose to pursue a website redesign or

rebranding project. These would be longer term capital costs outside the typical annual marketing

budget. Budget is not generally a limiting factor for the suggestions of this plan, which has focused on

types of marketing that require more in staff time than in external marketing budget.

The following combined budget and timeline suggests an order in which the projects recommended in

this plan can be taken on and accomplished within the budget and staffing resources KART has. It is only

a draft, and will be worked through with KART to refine and ensure that the timeline is practical given

current agency initiatives.

Each year, beginning with 2017, represents a fiscal year beginning from July 1, 2016. Due to the number

of priorities addressed during the first year, 2017 is broken into 4 quarters. Within each section, tasks

are in order of priority. Each project name is a link to a strategy section above, under the theme

indicated in the “Objective” column:

Passenger Information

Gatekeeper Network

Branding

Promotion to build awareness

New Lemoore Routes

Budgets given are for those projects identified only. Many other marketing expenditures will be

managed by KART in implementation of ongoing projects and other elements of this plan. Project

budgets marked with an * could have a high degree of budget variance, and are only rough estimates.


Marketing Implementation Plan

Strategy Objective Budget Priority

Q1 FY2017 (Calendar quarter beginning July 1, 2016)

Schedule Updates ‐ Establish Regular Process Information N/A Very High

GTFS Data and Real‐time Information $1,000*

High

Website Adjustments Information $500

Posted Schedules Information $500

Internal Calendar for Promotion Management Promotion N/A

General Outreach Lemoore N/A

Self‐promotion on unsold ad space Promotion $1,000 Moderate

Public Notification of Changes Information $500 Lower

Q1 2017 Total Budget $3,500

Q2 FY2017 (Calendar quarter beginning October 1, 2016)

Implement Client Relationship Management (CRM) System Gatekeeper $300

High

Meet face‐to‐face with key gatekeepers Gatekeeper N/A

Passenger Guide – Format Changes Information $5,000*

Moderate

Bus Stop Signage Information Capital

Every Door Direct Mail Lemoore $2,500

Lemoore Leader Lemoore N/A

Self‐promotion on unsold ad space Promotion $250 (Ongoing)



Q3 FY2017 (Calendar quarter beginning January 1, 2017)

Conduct Train‐the‐Trainer Sessions

(beginning with key gatekeepers) Gatekeeper N/A

Moderate

Provide Marketing Tools to Partners

(beginning with key gatekeepers) Gatekeeper N/A*

Information Displays in High‐Traffic Locations Information $1,000 Lower



Q4 FY2017 (Calendar quarter beginning April 1, 2017)

Establish Regular Communication (with gatekeepers beyond

the key relationships already addressed) Gatekeeper N/A High

Consistent Logo Branding $10,000*

Moderate

Vehicle Graphics Branding Capital*

Every Door Direct Mail (First Campaign, featuring new logo) Promotion $5,000 Lower



FY2018 (Calendar year beginning July 1, 2017)

Website Redesign Information $30,000

Every Door Direct Mail Promotion $5,000 (Ongoing)


2018 Total Budget $35,250


Messaging The marketing plan addresses a wide variety set of communications strategies for reach a diverse set of

target markets. Of course, the information and appeals to be communicated through these various

channels must be relevant to the transportation needs and priorities of each target group. This section

will address key message points to be considered in communicating with key target segments.

Existing Riders Realtime Information

New Passenger Info Tools

Convenience of stored value cards (for small amounts)

Savings with monthly passes

Easy connections between local and county routes

Service to key destinations in Fresno and Visalia

New Lemoore Routes

Feedback Opportunities

College Students Convenient service “to the door” at West Hills, College of the Sequoias and COS Visalia

Affordable way to commute to college – one less expense (Free rides with COS pass)

Time to study on the way

Independence

Eco‐friendly

Span of service 6 AM‐10 PM; 7 AM – 9 PM

High School Students Access to school, after school activities, recreation and jobs

Independence

Convince their parents

Seniors Safe alternative to driving

Convenient access to shopping and medical destinations

Low floor buses for easy boarding, even with walker, cane or wheelchair

Independence

Low Income Workers Low Fares

Span of service for service jobs, especially early morning

Serve all key destinations within Hanford

Avoid need for a car or second car


General Public Thursday Night Market

Availability of KART in a pinch

Benefits of KART for “parents” and “youth”

Evening service for going out

Market Assessment dM k i Pl and Marketing Plan

Documents