What has Metro done to inform riders about the elimination of paper transfers?
To alert riders about the change, Metro launched an aggressive informational campaign from October 2008, through January 2009. In addition, Metro met with regional stakeholders and reached out to area social service agencies to discuss the elimination of paper transfers. Metro issued 50,000 free SmarTrip® cards to the region’s social service agencies to distribute to people with low incomes. Advertisements and trainings were in both Spanish and English and were placed in Metrobuses. Exterior ads went on 10 percent of the bus fleet. The ads stated that paper transfers would no longer be issued or accepted and they touted the benefits of SmarTrip®. Additional efforts to inform passengers about the change included placing free, bilingual brochures in all buses and rail stations, having a recorded announcement in both English and Spanish play on buses, setting up a special Web page with frequently asked questions, and releasing an audiocast recording in seven languages. Will Metrobus and M
