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Seducing Riders Onto Transit

Posted by: Tim Halbur

4 March 2010 - 12:00pm

At a recent transportation conference, Dr. Leo Kroon of the Netherlands Railway says their strategy is not to force people to use the train but to 'seduce' them with the latest innovations.

Adam Christensen comments on Dr. Kroon's presentation: "Think of premium brands: Apple, BMW, etc. They seduce you on a level above pure functionality. You pay more for the experience. I could find mp3 players far cheaper than the iPod with similar (sometimes better) functionality, yet I willingly pay more so I can have an iPod in my pocket.

What if we applied a similar approach to transit? I’m not naive about the realities we face, nor the challenges of this kind of approach. But surely there’s more we can do to entice transit ridership."

Full Story: The Art of Seduction in Transportation
Source: IBM's Smarter Cities blog, March 4, 2010
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The following list shows the top 10 metropolitan statistical areas, as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, where commuting by public transportation has grown the most. None of them are among the nation's top 10 most populous metro areas, and yet seven are within the top 20.
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