It's all about how you cast it - "I drove today" v L&B
This campaign tip (no. 28) was published on Monday, 28th January 2019
There's an oft told story of how the counsellors in North Devon travelled up to London Waterloo to see Herbert Walker who was the chair of the railway company and ask him to save their railway but alas they travelled up by car not taking their own train and their mission failed.
When I first got involved in public transport campaiging, I was invited and welcomed to meetings across the region - and I attendd to press the case where I could. And I was very conscipus that in amongst the groups arrivng by train, I sometimes arrived by car. With but two trains each way per day, and with them timed to be less than useful, there was often little choice; from a recent meeting in Minehead at which I was speaking I would have hed to left before the meeting started to get home - even by bus - for midnight.
Using the transport you're campaining to improve yourself is a very powerful advert, and it's a very powerful way of learning for yourself how it works and meeting your customers too. Yes, I know it's inconvenient having to travel nearly two hours early sometimes (but there are planty of coffess bars to plug in the laptop and work!) and it shows the real issues up.
Putting the show on teh other foot - if you are arranging for volunteers to help you, far better to schedule to suit their needs if you can than to appear throughless in what hours you give them, and far better for you to use the service to get to your start / end points than drive you car along the route of service - it can look as if you're placing yourslf on a higher plane than your users. You may well think that, but best not be arrogant!
Discussion via Coffee Shop forum
When I first got involved in public transport campaiging, I was invited and welcomed to meetings across the region - and I attendd to press the case where I could. And I was very conscipus that in amongst the groups arrivng by train, I sometimes arrived by car. With but two trains each way per day, and with them timed to be less than useful, there was often little choice; from a recent meeting in Minehead at which I was speaking I would have hed to left before the meeting started to get home - even by bus - for midnight.
Using the transport you're campaining to improve yourself is a very powerful advert, and it's a very powerful way of learning for yourself how it works and meeting your customers too. Yes, I know it's inconvenient having to travel nearly two hours early sometimes (but there are planty of coffess bars to plug in the laptop and work!) and it shows the real issues up.
Putting the show on teh other foot - if you are arranging for volunteers to help you, far better to schedule to suit their needs if you can than to appear throughless in what hours you give them, and far better for you to use the service to get to your start / end points than drive you car along the route of service - it can look as if you're placing yourslf on a higher plane than your users. You may well think that, but best not be arrogant!
Discussion via Coffee Shop forum