A Case of Foresight
In April of 1999, transit workers with the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) began hinting they might strike, foreshadowing a major inconvenience for commuters. GO Transit, a
municipally funded regional commuter train and bus service, laid plans to step up its service in the event of a work stoppage to accommodate overflow passengers. Although TTC and
GO Transit are not direct competitors, GO Transit viewed the strike as an opportunity to build public awareness of its own services among existing and potential customers.
Strategy and Tactics
GO Transit knew from experience that its call center would be overloaded if a strike occurred, so its PR team looked for ways to deflect passenger inquiries to its Web site,
GoTransit.com. As a preemptive measure, the organization posted a link to its home page on April 7 with the simple headline, "Info about GO service if TTC shuts down."
"We figured we could keep the same hyperlink on the site if and when the strike hit," says Ed Shea, senior information officer for GO Transit. The organization also issued
press releases on April 7 and April 13 informing the media that it would add extra trains to its service in the event of a strike.
Judgment Day
The TTC strike began at midnight on Monday, April 19. At12:01 a.m., Shea dispatched a third news release via wire service. The next morning, more than 10,000 fliers were
distributed to commuters in various mass transit stations throughout the city, highlighting GO Transit's stepped-up service. The automated attendant line at the call center also
reminded customers that they could visit the Web site for up-to-date information on schedules and routes.
Outcomes
Visits to GO Transit's Web site spiked during the two days the strike was in full force, surpassing phone inquiries to the call center (see right). Media coverage drove
traffic to GOTransit.com, and one local television station even featured a live demo of the site. Meanwhile, the press releases issued by Canada NewsWire ultimately landed among
the wire service's top ten most-accessed releases in a single day (264 browsers accessed the April 7 release, and 600 accessed the April 19 release).
Although the strike ended the morning of April 21, one of the trains that GO Transit added to accommodate passenger overflow has since been established as a regular line. Shea
attributes the demand partly to PR and party to rising fuel costs.
(Shea, GO Transit, 416/869-3600, x5328)
Hindsight
Media hype fueled GO Transit's plan, so it helped that its call center attendants were trained to handle media calls as well as customer inquiries (a standard policy). Staff
time aside, the strike response required no additional expenses.