Across the nation, government agencies are implementing plans to transition their municipal transit systems to zero-emissions vehicles. Maryland has followed suit and in 2016, the Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Transit Administration (MDOT MTA) established a goal to convert 50 percent of its core bus fleet in Greater Baltimore to zero-emissions buses (ZEBs) by 2030. As a longtime partner of the organization, Clark was asked to develop inreach and outreach campaigns to inform operators and the public about the upcoming Zero-Emissions project.
We have designed and launched a comprehensive website dedicated to our Zero-Emissions initiative to introduce the project to the wider public. The website, which is built on WordPress, showcases the numerous benefits of the Zero-Emissions project and provides detailed information on the project, including a timeline, an interactive impacts feature, and attention-getting video animations, also developed by the Clark team.
One of the greatest highlights of the website is its language translation feature, which allows users to switch between English and Spanish, making it more accessible.
Website Services:
As a way of quickly introducing the public to the project, the Clark team developed fun explainer animations, which described the reason for the project, how it would benefit the community, and the timeline for the project.
Services for developing these animations:
To increase our presence within the community surrounding the Eastern Bus Division, our outreach staff arranged pop-up events at public gatherings, conducted door-to-door canvassing, and organized public forums. Additionally, a large fence sign was installed outside the facility, and yard signs were distributed to nearby residents to raise further awareness of the project.
One of the primary objectives for MDOT MTA was to inform their operators and maintenance workers about the Zero-Emissions Buses (ZEBs) and the overall project aims to ensure that they were aware of the department’s direction. Since the internal staff lacked a centralized email system, it was decided that in-person engagement would be the best approach, with the engagement taking place at each of the five divisions.
A staff member was selected to travel to each division with a pop-up booth to speak with employees one-on-one. The booth had a trivia wheel with matching questions about ZEBs, and an interactive multiple-choice quiz was available via a QR code on mobile devices. To encourage participation, branded giveaway items were offered to employees who engaged with the booth. Flyers, posters, and large-format boards were also created and displayed in each division. As a fun engagement opportunity, an internal staff member filmed several employees answering questions about the ZEBs.
