WF&Co. is leading the communications effort for the Utah Transit Authority's first commuter rail project. Our role includes communications research and planning, ongoing implementation of strategic communications tactics, and oversight of public involvement communications and information gathering.

While support for transit is generally riding high in Utah (because of success with UTA's light rail projects) the Commuter Rail Team has very ambitious goals of obtaining funding support from local communities, creating unprecedented ridership demand, and involving the communities in the planning and development stages of this project. All of these goals require active, innovative and persuasive communication with our communities.

We began by forming a working communications team that included UTA communications representatives, WF&Co. staff and members of the environmental team. Together, we created a message-driven communications plan that kept costs down by employing low-cost strategies and using the resources of UTA. As part of the planning process we conducted public opinion research, held on-bus focus groups and interviewed opinion leaders to establish a baseline for our communications planning.

The plan focused on building grass-roots support through personal involvement with our many audiences up and down the corridor. One of our first jobs was to form a Community Rail Integration Team made up of citizens and business leaders. This group meets regularly to receive updates on the project and to provide citizen feedback on our plans. The Commuter Rail Team also meets regularly with a Policy Advisory Team made up of community leaders and elected officials. Through frequent and open communication with this group, the members of the Policy Advisory Team have become some of UTA's greatest advocates.

Other methods for reaching constituents include placing articles in city newsletters; sending e-mail updates to human resource directors at large employers; communicating directly with UTA employees through presentations and mailings to homes; giving presentations to civic and business groups; and working with local media to keep them educated and interested.