Transport for London to 'intensify' communications campaign to ease Olympic travel chaos
Transport for London is readying an ‘intense’ marketing campaign to help combat congestion on the capital’s bus and Underground networks during the Olympics.
The transport operator is already running an outdoor and digital campaign, created by M&C Saatchi and dubbed 'Get Ahead of the Games', to warn Londoners to plan ahead and avoid travel hotspots during the Olympics.
But it will step up its efforts with radio and TV ads and there will be additional TfL staff on the ground to ensure the capital does not come to a standstill as thousands of visitors flock to the Olympic venues.
"The marketing campaign during the Olympics is going to be much more intense," Shashi Verma, director of customer experience at TfL, told The Drum at the Open Mobile Summit.
"There will be posters, radio messages, TV messages and travelling ambassadors on the ground handing out leaflets and walking maps. They'll be able to say: this station is congested but here’s where to walk to."
Rather than launch its own branded app to help people get around during the Games, TfL has instead opted to open up its data to third-party developers because so many of them are willing to create the tools for free.
Verma said: "What we’ve done is we’ve opened all of our data, rather than building apps ourselves. There are hundreds, literally hundreds, of apps available on the Android store and the iTunes store providing live information.
"Everything that’s available - disruptions, departure boards, countdown boards on buses - all of that is available on apps.
"There is a temptation [to have our own app] but frankly there are a large number of app developers who are doing this for free."