REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FY17-R-011 - DART · PDF fileREQUEST FOR PROPOSAL . FY17-R-011 . ... The focus of the selected marketing firm will be to help identify and begin to ... phones

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FY17-R-011 for

MARKETING and PUBLIC AFFAIRS SERVICES for

DES MOINES REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY

Addendum 1 ________________________________________________________

Date: May 5, 2017 Attachment 1: • Questions and Answers to the RFP Attachment 2: • March Performance Report Attachment 3: • DART Fact Sheet Attachment 4: • DART Marketing and Communications Goals FY 2017 Attachment 5: • DART Strategic Priorities FY17 – FY18 Attachment 6: • FY17 Digital Analytics

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FY17-R-011 Marketing and Public Affairs

RFP Questions & Answers

1. Whether companies from Outside USA can apply for this? (like, from India or Canada) Response: There are no geographic restrictions regarding who can respond to the RFP.

2. Whether we need to come over there for meetings? Response: At this point in time, DART expects any finalists for award to come on-site for interviews.

3. Can we perform the tasks (related to RFP) outside USA? (like, from India or Canada) Response: At certain points during the contract term, DART may want the contractor to come on site for meetings.

4. Can we submit the proposals via email? Response: DART is requiring all proposals to be submitted on a hard copy medium as well as electronic/digital. Electronic/digital can be emailed. The email address is [email protected]

5. Are you looking for separate RFP responses for marketing vs. the public affairs role/is it okay if we respond to both, but separate of each other? Response: DART is looking for either separate responses for the marketing and public affairs services OR one proposal for both services that specifically addresses the items listed in the Scope of Work for both marketing and public affairs. We did not want to discourage firms with the market capacity but not the public affairs capacity from participating and vice versa.

6. Beyond the research done on 2035, what other research initiatives have you conducted on ridership or the reason for not riding? Response: DART utilized ETC Institute to conduct a statistically significant non-rider survey for the first time in 2016. This survey provided insight into the perception of DART among non-riders, the degree to which people believe it is important to support and fund public transportation, reasons why people do not currently ride, what factors would encourage people to start riding, among others. The full survey results are available in Appendix 5 in the RFP.

7. Is there any way we can get access to historical data on ridership for the past 20 years? Response: DART can readily provide ridership data from 2012 upon request. A copy of our March 2017 Performance Report is available as Attachment 2 to Addendum 1. It can also be located on DART’s website here, and a copy of the DART fact sheet is available as Attachment 3 to Addendum 1 and can also be located on DART’s website here with total ridership for fiscal year 2016 and annual ridership data for fiscal years 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.

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8. Would you be open to partnering with a firm and then working together to hire the perfect fit for the public affairs role? Response: The RFP was written for both marketing and public affairs. As such, proposals and interviews for both services will take place as part of this RFP process.

9. What research has DART done to evaluate the competitive landscape among non-riders? Response: See response to question 6.

10. What research has DART done to evaluate the perceptions various audiences have about bus riders? Response: DART has not conducted research on perceptions various audiences have about bus riders.

11. You note media buying & planning as a service in which you might be interested. Is there a media budget you have for the next three years? Response: The media buying budget was included in Section 2 (Scope of Work) on page 11. This is an estimate only and is subject to change.

12. Beyond mobile ticketing, are there other technology enhancements being planned for the next three years? Response: The mobile ticketing app will also include trip planning and real-time information for users either when it launches in the fall of 2017 or shortly thereafter. DART began a one-year pilot of Wi-Fi on two routes, 52 between West Des Moines and downtown Des Moines, and 98, between Ankeny and downtown Des Moines. The pilot will be measured based on number of sessions, overall data usage, impact on rider satisfaction (measured through a brief survey in early 2018) and impact on ridership. Our goal was to achieve a 2% increase on ridership on these routes. If successful, the DART Commission may decide to expand Wi-Fi to all DART routes. Technology and transit are rapidly changing and DART is constantly evaluating how different forms of technology could be used to improve the customer experience and/or create efficiencies in how we provide our service.

13. Can you provide a recap of the status of DART 2035 initiative? How was it received by stakeholders? Do you plan to make any adjustments based on that input? Response: The DART Forward 2035 Year Five Update started an important community conversation about what level of transit service is needed as our region continues to grow and how it should be funded. The public input was very clear. 2,170 people shared their transit priorities, ranking access (more stops in more places) and availability (longer hours of service) as most important. 1,400 respondents completed the full survey by selecting their preferred plan. Among the plan options were to maintain the current system, Minimal Growth plan, Moderate Growth plan, and the Expanded Regional plan. The largest majority, 62 percent, selected the Expanded Regional plan.

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Following the completion of public input, the DART Commission and staff are taking the following steps to help inform future conversations on transit service levels and funding:

• Impact Modeling: The Des Moines Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is analyzing the costs and benefits of expanding public transportation in the metro by evaluating what impact it would have on traffic congestion, wear and tear on area roadways, and more.

• Governance Task Force: The DART Commission approved the formation of an independent task force on governance at its January Commission meeting. The task force was asked to evaluate DART’s governance structure and provide governance recommendations to the DART Commission. The task force shared their recommendations with the Commission on May 3, 2017. Their full recommendation and more information on the task force is available at https://www.ridedart.com/dart-governance-task-force.

• Funding Analysis: The Greater Des Moines Partnership and Transit Future Work Group are commissioning an independent study of funding options to advance public mobility in the region. This analysis will look at both public and private revenue streams in order to determine the feasibility of the future transit plans suggested in DART Forward 2035.

14. Is the focus of the public affairs work local to Des Moines or broader including DC?

Response: The focus is local and state policy as it impacts DART, not federal policy, although being informed and aware of current federal policy and how it impacts DART may be helpful in understanding the context in which DART operates.

15. What is the top deliverable under public affairs?

Response: An education and stakeholder engagement plan that results in the local and/or state changes needed to provide long-term sustainable funding for DART.

16. As part of this effort, if DART had to prioritize - is the goal to affect short term ridership or to work towards a broader transformation to a new generation of riders to come up in the next 10-20 years? Response: It needs to be both, as short-term ridership increases may be influential in gaining support for addressing DART’s long-term sustainability. The DART marketing and communications staff will continue to focus on promotions designed to generate short-term ridership. The focus of the selected marketing firm will be to help identify and begin to establish new segments of choice riders for the future.

17. Can you summarize any active campaigns and associated tactics or communication vehicles used by DART in the last 12-18 months to reach ridership and awareness goals? Response: The Marketing and Communications goals for Fiscal Year 2017 can be found here. I’ve summarized below two recent marketing initiatives. New Route 10 – began in November 2016 between Pleasant Hill and Downtown Des Moines

DART promoted the new Route 10 – East University through a mix of paid, earned and owned media. This included direct mail, social media advertising, digital billboard, media outreach

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along with DART’s rider communications via email, social media, signage and website content.

The target audiences were Des Moines residents living near the route and Pleasant Hill residents living near the two Park & Rides. Messaging focused on the free ride promotion during the month of November, go-to destinations of Route 10, Pleasant Hill Park & Rides and the value of riding the bus instead of driving in the winter. Combined these efforts have generated approximately 698,325 impressions.

Ridership on the route has continued to increase over time since the route launched in November 2016. Average daily rides on Route 10:

• November – 113/day • December – 111/day • January – 124/day • February – 145/day • March – 139/day • April – 156/day

Wi-Fi Pilot on Routes 52 and 98 – February 2016 through February 2017

DART is testing Wi-Fi on Route 52 between downtown Des Moines and West Des Moines as well as Route 98 between downtown Des Moines and Ankeny. Free Wi-Fi will be available for one year, at which point DART will determine whether to keep Wi-Fi on buses and expand to all routes.

A soft launch of the Wi-Fi pilot for the first 1-2 months focused marketing efforts toward current riders, giving riders an opportunity to use the Wi-Fi and help DART staff work through any issues if they arise. In the first 15 days of the pilot, riders connected to the Wi-Fi more than 1,700 times and DART received several positive comments about Wi-Fi on the bus. As of early May 2017, riders connected more than 14,500 times, or an average of approx. 200 connections each day.

A digital marketing campaign targeting potential riders commuting from West Des Moines and Ankeny to downtown began in early May 2017. This included targeted digital ads on mobile phones and targeted Facebook advertising. We are currently waiting on results of digital advertising.

18. Would DART tend to want to focus on lifting general ridership and awareness or to create a robust value proposition for specific micro targeted use cases? Response: The focus of the selected marketing firm will be to identify and understand new segments of choice riders most likely to adopt and use transit and lead efforts to develop and execute targeted campaigns towards each audience.

19. Is the plan around lifting new opportunities or are there specific, immediate dire challenges (for ex. Funding shortages) that are most important to address first?

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Response: We project that there is the opportunity for funding shortages based on the restricted growth of current funding sources, and therefore identifying and securing additional funding sources within the next couple of years is essential.

20. Of existing public surveys and outreach by DART, will those be made available to the chosen firm during the RFP process or upon confirmation of the award(s)? Response: The full 2016 customer satisfaction survey results is available in Appendix 3 – Part 1 and a summary of the results is available in Appendix 3 – Part 2 in the RFP. The non-rider survey results is available in Appendix 5 in the RFP.

21. Within existing public surveys and outreach (mentioned in RFP, pg. 12), is there an existing body of data to help prioritize specific audiences in more granularity beyond what is mentioned in the RFP, pgs. 10 & 11? If no, we presume this will be part of the Customer Acquisition research mentioned. Response: The full non-rider survey results are available in Appendix 5 in the RFP. It may be possible to break down responses further to provide more insight into potential target market segments. It is possible that some additional research may be needed to verify for the purposes of customer acquisition but we want to leverage existing research to the fullest extent possible before this is done.

22. Among the public affairs audience targets listed on page 11 (community and business leaders, elected officials, general public), has DART historically targeted one or more of these groups with messaging priority over others? Response: We have identified several audiences for future public affairs initiatives. Currently, we have regular communication with elected officials, city managers, public transit riders and business and community leaders.

23. What is your current understanding of the public's perception of DART? How does this compare with your understanding of elected officials and community and business leaders' perceptions of DART? Response: Please see the DART non-rider survey in Appendix 5 for the information on public perception. We do not have formal research on the perceptions of community and business leaders.

24. How would DART describe its relationship with Des Moines-area media?

Response: DART has strong relationships with several key media, and there is still room for relationship-building improvement with some members of the media.

25. What are the current methods for measuring increases in “non-rider awareness” and “non-

rider impression”? Response: A bi-annual non-rider survey conducted by ETC Institute. 2016 survey results are available in Appendix 5 in the RFP. Specifically, DART will use responses to questions 4 and 33 to evaluate awareness of services and perception.

26. Over 50% of funding comes from property tax, what makes up the other 50% of funding?

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Response: 56.1% of funding comes from local property taxes, 26% comes from fare revenue and contracts, 10.2% comes from federal funding, 7.5% comes from state funding with another 0.2% is miscellaneous funding.

27. DART does not have a vendor for marketing services currently, correct? Only existing contracts are for government services, correct? Response: DART has two marketing firms under a contract that will end on June 30, 2017. We have state and federal lobbyists under contracts that are separate from this RFP.

28. In Section 2.4 there is an indication of “various surveys and outreach efforts”, are those available in advance of proposals? Response: Please see response to question 20.

29. What is the reason for doing the RFP? Response: Please see Section 2.1 and 2.2 in the Scope of Work.

30. Does DART have a strategic plan that you can share? Response: DART’s strategic priorities for FY17 and FY18 have been added to DART’s website and can be found here.

31. Does DART have a current marketing plan that can be shared? Response: See the response to question 17.

32. What is the budget allocation between traditional advertising and digital? Response: This will be determined together by DART and the selected marketing firm. Over the past year, DART has used a mix of both but is increasingly doing more and more digital advertising through social media, Facebook primarily, and Google AdWords.

33. What was the ROI that measured spend to results? Response: Generally, DART measures marketing efforts through a variety of ways: overall reach, engagement (primarily click-throughs as well as likes/comments on social media as well) and traffic to ridedart.com (most campaigns have a specific landing page associated with them). We do not currently have a way to directly measure impact of ridership other than comparing ridership during the campaign period to ridership before/after the campaign ran as well as comparing to ridership over the same time period the prior year.

34. Has DART completed a digital assessment in the past year that can be shared? Response: This has not been completed.

35. Can you share website traffic data, engagement data and other marketing reports with us? Response: DART reports digital analytics monthly to its Commission. The FY17 Digital Analytics report through March 2017 is available here. DART will share access to its Google Analytics

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account with the firm(s) selected. See response to question 17 for more information on specific marketing efforts and their results.

36. How important is big data and market intelligence to you in this program? Response: As it relates to marketing, research and data will be an important component of customer persona development and understanding of key target audiences so we can effectively market to them. As it relates to public affairs, data and market research will help inform public sentiment about transit among various audiences and who/how we target people with the right messaging to maintain or improve their opinions on public transit.

37. How important is best practices technology to you? Response: DART is always interested in leverages best practices to the extent that it is applicable in supporting the goals we’re trying to achieve.

38. Is DART currently using any technology tools that allow you to identify prospects, attract them and measure their online interest? If so, which technologies are you using? Response: No this is not something we are currently doing. DART began using Microsoft Dynamics CRM in late 2016. Currently this is being used to maintain stakeholder contact information. There is an opportunity to utilize the system for identifying and tracking prospects in the future but that was not the initial purpose of the CRM. DART encourages riders to sign up for email alerts through its website, which adds them to a Constant Contact email list and distribution.

39. What are the current performance metrics for these programs? Response: N/A

40. Are you interested in considering a Co-Op Program within this scope of work? Response: We are open to ideas on how to best achieve the goals and initiatives outlined in the Scope of Work.

41. Who was the RFP directly sent to? How many of those agencies are located outside of Iowa? Response: The original distribution list contained 9 agencies, with about a 50% mix of them having a local presence in Iowa. The list has grown to 16 agencies as we have heard from parties directly who are interested. The RFP was also published locally and nationally. There is no geographic preference for the award of the contract(s).

42. Do you have a current marketing agency? If so, is there anything you’re unhappy with regarding the current agency/agencies? Response: DART has two marketing firms under contract through June 30, 2017. The DART marketing and communications team has grown over the last two years and as such capabilities of staff have changed since the firms were procured. In addition, the work procured under those contracts no longer meets the current and anticipated future needs of DART.

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43. In section 5.15, the RFP lists the DART DBE participation goal then mentions at the end that there is no requirement for this opportunity. Can you please provide clarity around the flexibility within the DBE participation for this contracting opportunity? Response: DART is required to disclose its overall DBE contracting opportunity goal as well as goals for individual projects. DART’s agency goal is .53% but there is no specific goal for this contract award. Firms/agencies are encouraged to include DBE participation if available.

44. Can you please confirm whether the current DART DBE participation goal is 0.53% or 53%? Response: Please see the response to Question 43.

45. Section 2.1 references organizational goals to increase ridership as well as non-rider awareness (by 3%), and non-rider impression (by 2%). Can you please provide details on how you plan to measure progress in these areas or whether measurement will be the responsibility of the vendor? If the latter, are those costs included in the RFP’s approximated budgets? Response: DART utilized the ETC Institute to conduct a bi-annual non-rider survey. The first survey was conducted in 2016 and provided a baseline for non-rider awareness and impression. The survey will be conducted by ETC Institute again in 2018. The cost of this survey is not applied toward the contract ceiling of this RFP.

46. Recognizing that DART has internal teams also supporting these goals, can you please clarify the extent to which DART anticipates the vendor to execute on all of the strategy and content creation? Response: This will be determined in collaboration between DART and the selected firm(s) and may vary from project to project. Most likely, the DART marketing and communications team will assist with execution of content on our social media channels, website, rider emails, bus audio / advertisements, etc. We will look for the selected marketing firm to execute some digital advertising initiatives but anticipate most of the firm’s time will be spent on research, data collection / insight gathering, strategy development and refinement, etc.

47. Can you please provide clarity around the rules for DART to engage the community in advocacy versus education, as it relates to public affairs activities? Response: DART must follow the same rules as other government entities—we can educate on issues and bills that impact us, but we cannot advocate for the public to vote for or against any certain legislation.

48. Reviewing the document and looking at budget ranges it seems the high end of the total budget is $670,000, but section 5.3 says the intended contract will include a Not to Exceed Amount of $500,000 across the contracts. Can we please better understand the budget limit as pertains to this RFP response? Response: The not to exceed amount of the contract(s) awarded is $500,000 over three years. The approximate budgets provided in the Scope of Work were estimated ranges to provide some guidance on how the total contract spend may be allocated.

49. Section 2.4’s scope of work focuses on laying the groundwork for future public affairs campaigns, and only mentions “possible implementation” under the Fiscal Year 2020 budget

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line. Can you please clarify whether costs associated with running a campaign, should the need arise, are included in this budget, or whether additional funds would be allocated? Response: DART recognizes additional budget may need to be allocated in the future if the organization is facing a referendum or legislative action.

50. Would DART be open to suggestions for best ways to allocate budgets from an advocacy perspective that might not build a community but will have key influencers at the ready when needed? We have found that this approach is more cost-effective for certain organizations, and might be worth considering.

Response: DART is open to suggestions, new strategy and advice as it relates to any public affairs efforts.

51. Please describe DART’s perception of “digital listening.” Is there a particular service/software

to which DART currently subscribes, or are there certain metrics DART would require a service/subscription to measure? Response: DART sees digital listening as the process of monitoring digital conversations to understand what customers are saying about a brand and industry online, as well as possibly testing key messages by monitoring and analyzing responses to messages. We will work with the selected firm(s) to determine what type of digital listening metrics and tools are needed.

52. What does DART believe are some common misperceptions about public transit in the Des Moines area?

Response: Two common misperceptions are:

• The only people who ride the bus are people who have to. • Buses are sometimes empty or carry very few riders

53. The RFP mentions two organizational goals (increase awareness of DART services to increase

ridership; and enhance public support and perception by increasing non-rider awareness by 3 percent and non-rider impression of DART services by 2 percent by year-end of fiscal year 2019). What is the baseline measurement for the second goal? Are there other metrics DART will use to measure success of the marketing program? Response: See response to question 25 for the first question above. In addition to ridership, awareness and public perception, DART will work with the marketing firm to identify other relevant metrics based on the initiatives being worked on at the time. We will expect detailed analytics for any campaigns executed – people reached, engagement, website traffic, etc.

54. Are there any planned marketing activities/spending that have been committed for the coming years? Response: There are a variety of ridership promotions DART conducts throughout the course of the year (Bike Month, Try Transit Week, extended service for key events – 80/35, Yankee Doodle Pops, Iowa State Fair). Most of the work on these is done in-house and relatively minimal spend allocated towards some on-line advertising. DART will be launching a new mobile ticketing app in the fall of 2017 that will have advertising dollars allocated to it. The role of the marketing firm in this will be determined once the firm is selected. DART intends to have the marketing firm focus primarily on a brand audit and assessment in fiscal year 2018,

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and, to the extent possible within budget constraints, the customer acquisition work outlined in the Scope of work on page 11.

55. Does DART currently partner with a marketing agency? Response: See response to question 42.

56. Has the DART Commission undertaken any efforts in the past to increase property tax caps to increase funding? Response: DART’s property tax cap levy was a part of the state legislation that created DART. There has not been an effort at the legislature to increase that cap. The Greater Des Moines Partnership is currently working to contract for an independent funding analysis to help determine the best sources for transit funding in the future.

57. DART conducted a Customer Service Satisfaction Survey and Non-Rider Survey in 2016. Will the 2016 research serve as a benchmark to assess the current market perceptions? Response: The 2016 non-rider survey serves as a baseline for non-rider awareness and perception of DART.

58. Has DART conducted any marketing research in the past resulting in the development of customer personas? If so, will you share those customer personas as defined by any previous research? Response: DART has not done any research-based work on this to-date. Existing draft personas are based on assumptions only and need to be verified.

59. Based on the approximate timeline and budget outlined in the RFP, do you anticipate the implementation of the marketing research components will primarily occur in FY 2018? Response: DART would like to complete and implement results of the brand audit and any resulting refinements in FY 2018. If possible within the budget, we would like to begin work on customer persona development but understand this will continue into FY 2019.

60. Are the line items listed for media buying your anticipated expenses for media only or for media and media placement (page 11). Response: Media buying estimates are for media only. Placement fees or charges would be considered part of the professional services budget.

61. New mobile ticketing app: a. Will we design the app? No, DART has already hired and is working with

firm that specializes in mobile ticketing apps for transit agencies. b. Will someone else develop it and our role will be to promote it? See

response to question 54.

62. Can you give us an example of a “quarterly stakeholder newsletter”? How big is your distribution list? How do you typically distribute it? Response: The stakeholder newsletter currently goes to approximately 800 key stakeholders including elected officials, business leaders, community partners and others. It is currently

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distributed via print. This newsletter was started within the last year, and so we are still measuring its success. See Appendix 6 for an example.

63. Do you have a rider database? Do you have a CRM system? Response: DART has begun implementation of Microsoft Dynamics to track stakeholder communication. See response to question 38 for additional information.

64. How are you currently marketing to riders (transit and non-choice) versus non-riders? Do you have demographic/psychographic profiles for your transit and non-choice riders?

Response: Please see the answer to Question 17 for the answer to the first part of the above question. Some of the information we have for the second part of the question is available in the non-rider and customer satisfaction surveys as part of the appendices available at https://www.ridedart.com/business-center/procurement. Further research may be needed.

65. In several instances within the RFP you mention riders. Please confirm this means riders on the

30+ bus routes, paratransit, and on call service AND riders using more than 100 RideShare vans? Or, is it only riders on the bus routes, paratransit, and on call services?

Response: A DART rider could utilize any one of our services, fixed route, paratransit, on call and/or RideShare. For the customer acquisition work outlined in Section 2.3 of the RFP, the marketing firm will initially focus on customer personas for fixed route ridership, although there is an opportunity for this with RideShare and other services as well.

66. (Page 5, Section 1.5 B) You ask for current and projected workload for key staff on the DART

project. Please describe the details you expect on projected workload. Response: We want to understand how available key staff will be to needs that may occasionally change quickly—a general understanding of the availability of the staff and/or their commitment to other work would be helpful.

67. (Page 9, Section 2.3) Please provide more details or examples on the expected deliverables to DART around digital listing. Response: See response to question 51.

68. (Page 10, section 2.3) For the brand assessment and refinement work, can you provide an estimate of the number of collateral, emails, Web pages, presentation, videos, etc. that would be included in this audit of the brand. Response: DART will make any materials available the selected firm deems necessary to conduct a thorough brand audit and make recommendations on opportunities for refinement. A few materials that we envision will be helpful in this process:

• Brand guidelines • Ridedart.com – DART will look to the selected firm to determine how much of the site

should be included in the audit • Examples of Rider Emails sent through Constant Contact • 3 printed stakeholder newsletters • DART fact sheet • New marketing brochure (guide to transportation options in Des Moines)

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• RideShare vanpool flyer and RideShare employer guide • Examples of schedule brochures • System route map • Other (mostly tri-fold) brochures include: How to Ride Guide, Bike & Ride Guide,

Opportunities Thru Transit, Bus Plus (paratransit), Guaranteed Ride Home, among a few others.

• Examples of a handful of PowerPoint presentations. • Examples of recent past holiday cards sent to key stakeholders • Printed bus passes • FY 2014 annual report • 1-2 examples of ads that were placed in Chamber guides/directories throughout

2016-2017 • Examples of DART Forward 2035 materials

o Brochure o Non-rider survey summary o 2-5 examples of advertisements o PowerPoint

69. (Page 11, Section 2.3) Please provide examples of the types of detailed analytical reports

and other metrics you are expecting from the Proposer? Response: Specific reporting requirements may vary based on the project being worked on. If the selected firm(s) is executing a campaign, DART will expect the firm to monitor and report on the success of those efforts through reach, engagement, website traffic and other metrics determined by DART and the selected firm before the campaign is executed.

System Summary Performance ReportMarch 2017

March

% Change

FY17

YTD

% Change

FY17

September

2016

October

2016

November

2016

December

2016

January

2017

February

2017

March

2017

March

2016

FY17

March

YTD

FY16

March

YTD

Fixed Route

359,079 378,099 394,537 351,537 315,266 334,782 343,089 349,952 Passengers (2.54%) 3,289,827 3,386,642 (2.86%)

22,674 20,428 15,190 21,021 20,199 18,465 19,042 19,122 OTT Ridership (15.67%) 174,626 195,027 (10.46%)

29,684 32,547 28,019 28,121 25,087 25,620 26,911 28,451 Unlimited Access Ridership (4.15%) 249,849 350,265 (28.67%)

3,492 6,237 6,064 4,758 2,647 2,121 3,154 3,740 Bike Rack Usage 7.10% 40,936 37,453 9.30%

18.9 21.4 21.7 19.9 17.0 18.1 20.4 18.6 Passengers Per Revenue Hour (1.96%) 19.8 20.5 (3.45%)

3.99 4.25 4.25 4.25 4.27 4.29 4.27 4.29 Average Passenger Trip Length 7.47% 3.98 4.37 (8.83%)

14.76 11.64 8.62 6.83 10.47 9.56 11.95 13.14 Complaints Per 100,000 Passengers (10.94%) 10.82 20.61 (47.50%)

1.67 1.32 1.01 1.42 1.27 1.19 2.62 4.29 Commendations Per 100,000 Passengers 156.53% 1.85 2.07 (10.29%)

85.28% 81.31% 82.25% 83.20% 83.21% 84.39% 82.95% 84.59%On-Time Performance (0.81%) 83.10% 83.04% 0.07%

Accident Frequency Rate by Service:

1.02 2.94 1.43 1.09 0.00 1.74 1.15 1.72 Preventable/100,000 Miles 67.66% 1.33 1.47 (9.40%)

1.71 2.94 2.85 2.18 2.09 3.83 2.30 2.75 Non-Preventable/100,000 Miles 60.95% 2.54 1.75 45.65%

Maintenance:

292,885.3 272,492.7 280,699.5 274,854.9 286,819.5 287,141.7 261,064.9 291,154.5 Total Service Miles (0.59%) 2,556,058.3 2,520,040.7 1.43%

30.05 37.07 35.98 31.65 33.82 35.87 37.54 40.53 Roadcalls/100,000 Miles 34.89% 36.74 21.71 69.24%

123 123 126 129 127 127 127 127 Active Vehicles In Fleet 3.25% 126 123 2.53%

Paratransit

10,783 8,625 9,212 8,812 9,302 9,272 8,981 9,920 Passengers (8.00%) 83,161 90,889 (8.50%)

2.7 2.7 2.6 2.4 2.5 2.5 2.6 2.5 Passengers Per Revenue Hour (6.55%) 2.6 2.7 (4.83%)

8.85 8.97 8.96 8.96 8.97 8.97 8.96 8.97 Average Passenger Trip Length 1.38% 8.97 8.86 1.24%

46.37 57.97 43.42 22.70 75.25 21.57 11.13 90.73 Complaints Per 100,000 Passengers 95.66% 44.49 70.42 (36.82%)

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Commendations Per 100,000 Passengers 0.00% 0.00 14.30 (100.00%)

92.45% 91.33% 92.70% 93.56% 92.92% 91.63% 0.00% 0.00%On-Time Performance (100.00%) 92.66% 92.53% 0.14%

Accident Frequency Rate by Service:

3.69 3.09 1.38 2.79 1.37 2.77 1.48 2.63 Preventable/100,000 Miles (28.79%) 2.18 2.26 (3.48%)

0.00 4.63 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.38 0.00 1.31 Non-Preventable/100,000 Miles 0.00% 1.40 0.90 55.12%

Maintenance:

81,344.5 64,769.9 72,367.7 71,706.1 72,968.4 72,234.2 67,641.1 76,152.9 Total Service Miles (6.38%) 642,869.9 664,835.8 (3.30%)

2.46 9.26 9.67 11.16 8.22 12.46 4.44 10.51 Roadcalls/100,000 Miles 327.27% 9.64 4.36 121.10%

24 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 Active Vehicles In Fleet (8.33%) 22 21 3.65%

Rideshare

19,162 15,512 15,471 14,948 13,862 16,110 15,643 18,108 Passengers (5.50%) 141,499 157,456 (10.13%)

5.4 5.1 5.1 5.3 4.9 5.4 5.5 5.4 Passengers Per Revenue Hour (1.07%) 5.2 5.6 (7.28%)

616 561 561 548 560 560 600 564 Rideshare Customers (8.44%) 564 628 (10.17%)

89 84 83 83 84 84 86 86 Rideshare Vans In Circulation (3.37%) 84 88 (4.41%)

40.07 39.91 39.98 40.31 40.01 39.93 39.82 39.22 Average Passenger Trip Length (2.12%) 39.95 40.66 (1.75%)

Accident Frequency Rate by Service:

0.00 0.73 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Preventable/100,000 Miles 0.00% 0.17 0.39 (57.50%)

0.00 0.73 0.00 0.80 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Non-Preventable/100,000 Miles 0.00% 0.17 0.54 (69.64%)

Maintenance:

158,485.0 136,772.9 134,065.6 125,359.0 126,431.8 133,410.3 129,841.0 150,797.1 Total Service Miles (4.85%) 1,210,480.8 1,286,209.2 (5.89%)

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Roadcalls/100,000 Miles 0.00% 0.00 0.00 0.00%

103 108 108 108 108 108 105 108 Active Vehicles In Fleet 4.85% 108 99 8.88%

System Total

20.65% 23.75% 25.69% 19.59% 19.83% 18.60% 20.90% 23.19%Farebox Recovery Ratio 12.33% 21.08% 21.05% 0.15%

TransTrack Manager™ Page 1 of 24/26/2017 11:55:34 ET

System Performance Ridership ReportMarch 2017

March

% Change

FY17

YTD

% Change

FY17

September

2016

October

2016

November

2016

December

2016

January

2017

February

2017

March

2017

March

2016

FY17

March

YTD

FY16

March

YTD

Fixed Route 378,099 394,537 315,266 351,537 334,782 3,386,642 3,289,827 359,079 349,952 343,089 (2.86%)(2.54%)

1. Local:

20,040 20,982 22,043 18,829 15,834 17,748 17,689 17,221 #1 - Fairgrounds (14.07%) 394,959 425,834 (7.25%)

33,785 37,041 37,790 33,318 29,250 29,144 30,386 31,905 #3 - University (5.56%) 295,398 303,499 (2.67%)

16,887 17,211 18,929 16,521 15,652 16,637 17,072 17,468 #4 - E. 14th 3.44% 150,086 158,331 (5.21%)

7,948 10,008 9,329 8,216 7,675 7,916 7,971 8,393 #5 - Franklin Ave 5.60% 71,620 64,162 11.62%

30,336 34,198 36,086 30,706 26,793 27,996 28,524 28,873 #6 - Indianola Ave (4.82%) 262,992 264,770 (0.67%)

35,617 36,835 38,889 34,438 31,235 34,437 35,391 35,745 #7 - SW 9th St 0.36% 299,872 305,581 (1.87%)

4,655 5,836 5,364 5,275 4,324 5,030 5,193 5,176 #8 - Fleur Dr 11.19% 40,719 39,427 3.28%

0 0 0 794 2,455 2,744 2,889 3,201 #10 - East University 0.00% 12,083 0 0.00%

2,418 2,445 2,161 1,894 1,820 2,117 1,824 2,133 #11 - Ingersoll Ave (11.79%) 19,109 18,894 1.14%

6,464 8,284 8,157 7,632 6,211 7,161 7,291 5,931 #13 - Evergreen/SE Park Ave (8.25%) 53,750 54,580 (1.52%)

20,295 22,767 24,042 21,100 18,636 20,474 20,595 21,265 #14 - Beaver Ave 4.78% 177,636 187,081 (5.05%)

25,799 26,775 28,550 25,890 22,731 23,357 23,826 23,466 #15 - 6th Ave (9.04%) 213,291 226,658 (5.90%)

37,693 38,581 41,755 37,647 33,443 35,312 37,262 37,931 #16 - Douglas Ave 0.63% 319,478 329,191 (2.95%)

23,480 24,383 27,748 24,001 21,450 21,498 22,509 21,914 #17 - Hubbell Ave (6.67%) 206,784 203,436 1.65%

15,226 14,250 15,275 14,351 14,177 13,049 12,927 14,322 #52 - Valley West/Jordan Creek (5.94%) 127,184 133,461 (4.70%)

33,935 37,127 37,047 32,785 28,368 29,926 31,610 31,869 #60 - Ingersoll/University (6.09%) 284,622 295,558 (3.70%)

2. Shuttle:

13,891 14,421 13,942 12,590 11,615 13,996 13,871 14,823 Dline 6.71% 123,525 119,591 3.29%

1,634 992 1,005 918 879 993 966 904 Link Shuttle (44.68%) 8,777 13,648 (35.69%)

3. Express:

1,070 1,058 1,083 1,014 951 908 1,210 1,250 #91 - Merle Hay Express 16.82% 9,262 9,338 (0.81%)

2,892 2,536 2,557 2,386 2,290 2,664 2,413 2,596 #92 - Hickman Express (10.24%) 22,720 24,498 (7.26%)

3,594 3,468 3,777 3,363 2,941 3,234 3,189 3,229 #93 - NW 86th Express (10.16%) 29,951 26,233 14.17%

804 1,380 1,208 988 875 1,008 1,182 1,262 #94 - Westown 56.97% 10,533 8,018 31.37%

1,870 1,455 1,344 1,190 1,084 1,249 1,327 1,603 #95 - Vista (14.28%) 12,472 17,350 (28.12%)

2,878 2,200 2,384 2,303 1,954 2,207 2,257 2,552 #96 - E.P. True (11.33%) 20,250 25,075 (19.24%)

8,197 7,225 7,108 6,452 6,206 7,490 7,061 8,066 #98 - Ankeny (1.60%) 62,585 69,347 (9.75%)

1,538 1,690 1,862 1,785 1,654 1,888 1,757 1,776 #99 - Altoona 15.47% 15,345 13,392 14.58%

4. Flex:

4,452 3,635 3,828 3,640 3,390 3,439 3,610 3,818 #72 Flex: West Des Moines/Clive (14.24%) 32,603 35,313 (7.67%)

266 233 226 179 192 201 213 188 #73 Flex: Urbandale/Windsor Heights (29.32%) 1,906 2,812 (32.22%)

653 436 482 703 575 386 508 613 #74 Flex: NW Urbandale (6.13%) 4,709 5,150 (8.56%)

5. On Call:

289 251 161 226 209 215 185 231 On-Call: Ankeny (20.07%) 1,931 2,344 (17.62%)

232 271 276 247 215 208 196 107 On-Call: Johnston/Grimes (53.88%) 2,005 1,735 15.56%

241 125 129 156 182 150 185 121 On-Call: Regional (49.79%) 1,670 2,335 (28.48%)

Paratransit 8,625 9,212 9,302 8,812 9,272 90,889 83,161 10,783 9,920 8,981 (8.50%)(8.00%)

935 977 998 884 897 895 842 888 Cab (5.03%) 7,991 8,029 (0.47%)

9,848 7,648 8,214 7,928 8,405 8,377 8,139 9,032 Bus/Van (8.29%) 75,170 82,860 (9.28%)

Rideshare 15,512 15,471 13,862 14,948 16,110 157,456 141,499 19,162 18,108 15,643 (10.13%)(5.50%)

Total Ridership 402,236 419,220 375,297 338,430 360,164 367,713 377,980 389,024 3,514,487 3,634,987 (2.84%) (3.32%)

TransTrack Manager™ Page 2 of 24/26/2017 11:55:34 ET

Fiscal Year 2017 (July 1, 2016 − June 30,2017)

120,315 on Paratransit

208,337 on RideShare

4.8MILLION

TOTAL FY2016 ANNUAL

RIDERSHIP

1

Paratransit service

Fixed Route RideShare

3 4 5 6 7 8 11 13 14 15 16 17 6052

93 9491 92 95 96 98 99

D L

72 73

149Fixed Route, Flex/On Call, and Paratransit vehicles

108RideShare vans

Family of Services

Routes

Fleet

Facts

74

6 MILLIONTOTAL FY2016 MILES TRAVELEDAVERAGE WEEKDAY RIDERSHIP

Enriching LivesConnecting CommunitiesExpanding Opportunities

0 0 01 6

The Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART) is the public transportation agency for the Greater Des Moines region, offering the largest network of buses in the State of Iowa, as well as resources for those who vanpool, walk or bike.

DART was formed in July 2006 as a result of State of Iowa legislation. Since its inception, DART has grown rapidly, increasing ridership by 8 percent in the past four years alone.

Thanks to its regional approach, DART services can now be designed to create a comprehensive, sustainable transportation network for all of Central Iowa. DART is governed by a nine-member commission, representing seven regions within Polk County and two at-large seats.

Overview of DART

Local Routes Serving: Altoona, Beaverdale, Des Moines East, Des Moines North, Des Moines South, Downtown Des Moines, Drake, Pleasant Hill, Valley Junction, West Des Moines, Windsor Heights

Express Routes Serving: Ankeny, Altoona, Clive, Downtown Des Moines, Johnston, Urbandale, West Des Moines

FREE Shuttles Serving: Downtown Des Moines

Flex Routes Serving: Clive, West Des Moines, Windsor Heights, Urbandale, Valley Junction

4,447

,116

on F

ixed

Rou

te

10

Enriching Lives, Connecting Communities, Expanding Opportunities

Elizabeth Presutti, AICP | Chief Executive Officer | [email protected] | 515-283-8115

Amanda Wanke | Chief Engagement and Communications Officer | [email protected] |515-283-8124

Key Accomplishments

DART Board of Commissioners

19 Member Governments

f Added Sunday service to serve riders 7 days a week f Created an Unlimited Access program for employers to

help their employees ride DART for free f Began the free D-Line shuttle service between the Iowa

State Capitol and the Western Gateway Park f Added hybrid buses to DART’s fleet f Implemented the DART Forward 2035 Transit Services Plan f Opened DART Central Station, a central transit hub for

Greater Des Moines f Expanded service hours to run earlier in the mornings and

later in the evenings f Added technology tools including an app, text messaging

system and real-time data to know where the nearest bus is at any time

Alleman Altoona AnkenyBondurantCarlisleCliveDes MoinesElkhartGrangerGrimes

JohnstonMitchellvillePleasant HillPolk CityRunnellsUnincorporated Polk CountyUrbandaleWest Des MoinesWindsor Heights

f Tom Gayman, Chair (District 4 - Granger, Grimes, Johnston and Urbandale) f Christine Hensley, Vice Chair (District 3 - Des Moines) f Steve Peterson, Secretary/Treasurer (District 2 - Clive, West Des Moines and Windsor Heights) f Skip Conkling (District 1 - Altoona, Bondurant, Carlisle, Des Moines, Elkhart, Mitchellville and Runnells) f Angela Connolly (At Large - Polk County) f Gaye Johnson (At Large - Polk County) f Gary Lorenz (District 7 - Alleman, Ankeny, Des Moines and Polk City) f Skip Moore (District 5 - Des Moines and Pleasant Hill) f Joann Muldoon (District 6 - Des Moines)

CELEBRATING 10 YEARS 2006–2016

DART FY2017 Marketing and Communications Strategy July 1, 2016 – June 30, 2017 Awareness Goal: Increase awareness of DART services throughout Greater Des Moines by repositioning how DART markets and sells its services to key target audiences.

1. Develop marketing materials to promote DART services to potential riders by March 31, 2017.

2. Develop materials, in collaboration with the CCRM team, to support new business development programs and services by June 30, 2017.

3. Develop marketing plan for Drake University students and staff to increase awareness of their unlimited access membership by June 30, 2017.

Perception Goal: Improve perception of DART as an essential service to the future of the Greater Des Moines community and a wise use of taxpayer dollars to create the kind of community we want to be.

1. Raise awareness of the updated draft DART Forward 2035 plan and the needs of the community for transit by generating at least 5,000 unique views of the plan online and 1,000 responses by November 30, 2016.

2. Finalize key messages for stakeholders to use in meetings, presentations and more.

3. Complete three stakeholder newsletters in FY17 that include key messages.

Marketing Goal: Achieve 90% or more of combined campaign ridership and reach goals by end of FY2017.

Campaigns: 1. Complete branding for mobile ticketing app by February 2017.

a. Develop passes & V3 designs for app (February / March) b. Assist in facilitating pilot of the app c. Metrics:

1. Raise awareness of D-Line, focusing on: a. Achieving 1 million impressions through paid, earned and

owned media promoting the new Saturday D-Line service beginning August 27. Rider goals are:

i. Achieve average Saturday ridership of 50 by February 27 (total of 1,300)

ii. Achieve average Saturday ridership of 100 by June 30, 2017 (total of 1,700)

b. Re-educating riders and the public of the re-branded D-Line after a sponsor comes on board.

i. Create and implement new brand for D-Line ii. Achieve 1.5 million impressions through

development and execution of a campaign to inform the public of the new brand for the D-Line.

2. Raise awareness of DART’s new daytime service to Pleasant Hill, beginning in November 2016

a. Metrics: i. Total reach through paid, earned and owned

media of: 1 million impressions 3. Maximize ridership gained through special service offered by

DART for: a. Increase 2017 Yankee Doodle Pops ridership by 14% over

2016 to 2,500 rides (2,144 rides in 2016. 28.9% increase over 2015).

b. Maintain Iowa State Fair ridership to be consistent with average ridership over the last three years at approximately 220,000 rides

i. Ridership history: FY16 = 241,912, FY2015 = 221,188, FY2014 = 204,233

ii. Increase engagement and following of DART on Facebook and Twitter

c. Increase route 60 ridership during 80/35 6.8% over FY17 and 20.7% over FY2016 to 1,929 total rides.

4. Develop and deploy a communications plan to promote wifi pilot to current riders (primary audience) and potential riders (secondary audience).

a. Metrics:

i. Generate awareness of wifi technology through a reach of 250,000 impressions to support wifi pilot goals.

Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority FY 2018 BUDGET

1

1.1 Improve safety by increasing the Safety Index Factor by 5%, by year end FY18.

1.2 Improve the overall quality of service metric ranking on DART’s biannual Customer Satisfaction Survey by 1% to

84% very satisfied or satisfied response by year end FY19.

1.3 Improve service reliability by increasing OTP by 2%, by year end FY18.

1.4 Provide 5 million trips with DART services by year end FY20.

2.1 Based on our understanding of community support, develop strategies to address long term financial sustainability goals.

2.2 Maintain industry standard Farebox Recovery ratio of 20% or higher for the agency as a whole to be measured on June 30, 2017 and again at June 30, 2018.

3.1 Ensure workforce readiness as measured by an average vacancy rate of < 5% and an average voluntary turnover rate of < 5% through FY18.

3.2 Ensure engagement and retention of staff by implementing management initiatives, to be identified by the results of an engagement survey, by year end FY18.

4.1 Improve public support of DART by increasing awareness of DART and willingness to pay additional money to support transit and maintaining perception of the value of transit through a non-rider survey to be administered by the end of FY19.

4.2 Add five new business and/or public-private partnerships that grow transit access in the community by the end of FY18.

DART STRATEGIC PRIORITIES AND GOALSDRAFT FY 2017- FY 2018

1) Safety & Operational Excellence

2) Financial Stewardship & Sustainability

3) Workforce Performance, Readiness & Wellbeing

4) Partnerships & Engagement

Metric Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Mar. % Change2016 2016 2016 2017 2017 2017 2016 Year Prior

Website Unique Visitors 32619 28971 29136 31719 28686 32881 33,884 -18.12%Facebook Likes 2522 2598 2645 2673 2689 2712 1,637 39.12%Twitter Followers 1821 1820 1831 1845 1848 1866 1,700 8.01%Email Subscribers 4090 4160 4220 4630 4570 4660 4,020 12.04% This is done via Constant Contact from https://www.ridedart.com/email-updatesTrip Plans 10628 8313 7905 9348 6994 8724 10,547 -50.80% http://www.ridedart.com/mydart/trip-plannerNext Bus 3292 3057 2889 3884 3677 3282 2,437 33.72% http://www.ridedart.com/mydart/next-dart-busSchedules 2038 1429 1475 2026 1156 1690 2,149 -85.90%RideTime App 31689 30384 30395 32669 34107 36145 28,238 17.21%SMS Text Messaging 64820 62974 56641 64183 66960 68687 54,261 18.97%Interactive Voice Response 9897 8680 7889 7585 7186 8178 7,622 -6.07%

Marketing Analytics Report