Client

Transurban

Situation

Transurban, an international toll road investor and manager, is building High Occupancy Toll (HOT) Lanes along a 14-mile stretch of I-495/Capital Beltway in Virginia. The nearly $2 billion public-private construction effort represents the most significant package of improvements to Virginia’s Capital Beltway in a generation. Throughout the five-year construction period, the already-congested transportation corridor is being further complicated with extensive construction activities, large equipment and barriers, hundreds of workers, stop-and-go traffic, and changing conditions associated with lane closures and traffic changes. Transurban and design-builder, Fluor, sought to create awareness of extensive construction activity along the Capital Beltway and the dangers of driving distracted in a constantly changing work zone.

Challenges

• Texting or e-mailing while driving is a private decision and Transurban-Fluor can't get between the person and their phone
• Texting or e-mailing while driving has become the norm - some even say they can text without looking
• Pressures from work are driving people to use their phones when behind the wheel

Solution

Develop an integrated distracted driving campaign - "Orange Cones. No Phones." Transurban-Fluor partnered with Virginia Department of Transportation, AAA Mid-Atlantic, Federal Highway Association, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Virginia State Police, and Fairfax County Police to execute the campaign. The campaign included:

• Distracted Driving on the Capital Beltway research study and report
• Press conference and media outreach
• Radio and online advertising
• Social marketing - Facebook and Twitter accounts
• High school assembly program
• Distracted driving curriculum development for Virginia drivers education classes
• Collateral development
• Bumper sticker development
• Orange Cones. No Phones. roadway signage along the construction corridor

Due to the success of the 2009 campaign, Transurban expanded the campaign in 2010 with:

• 2010 Distracted Driving on the Capital Beltway research study and report
• Press conference and media outreach
• Social marketing - Facebook and Twitter accounts
• Collateral development
• Orange Cones. No Phones. High School Safety Challenge - marketing competition among high school students
• Orange Cones. No Phones. Employer Safety Pledge and e-Toolkit - a challenge to local businesses to take real steps to reduce distracted driving among their employees. Virginia Secretary of Transportation challenged 100 businesses to take the pledge in 100 days

Results

2009

• Successfully executed a press conference attended by various media outlets including The Washington Post and numerous local broadcast stations
• Media placements in major broadcast and print formats - more than 8,687,300 total impressions
• More than 2,126,515 advertising impressions
• Won the PRSA Silver Anvil Award of Excellence and the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) 2010 Roadway Work Zone Safety Awareness Award
• Dynamic social media following via Facebook and Twitter with 16 percent of high school assembly attendees becoming Facebook followers who receive regular distracted driving messages via their Facebook accounts

2010

• Media placements in 13 print and online placements including an article on the front page of The Washington Post Metro Section as well as 15 broadcast placements including coverage on all major broadcast stations - more than 10 million total impressions
• More than 100 businesses signed up for the Employer Safety Pledge in less than 100 days reaching more than 100,000 employees in Northern Virginia
• In the 2010 Distracted Driving on the Capital Beltway Report, 72 percent of drivers said they had seen stories in the news detailing the dangers of distracted driving and 34 percent said they were aware of or had heard of the Orange Cones. No Phones. campaign