The Brief

It had been decades in the making and an issue that divided Canberrans - light rail was coming to Canberra. To mark this moment in history, a community celebration was in order. The ACT Government required project and event management, a communication and media campaign and to work with a number of stakeholders that brought the project to life.

What We Did

We led a team of stakeholders to deliver two main elements - an exclusive community preview loop and a major community launch day.

To create buzz and excitement in the community that light rail was coming, a special community preview loop was designed as an exclusive ‘sneak peek’ of light rail before it officially opened.

We worked with Canberra Metro to organise a fleet of light rail vehicles to simultaneously complete a loop of the alignment, giving hundreds of school children, community members, media outlets and invited guests the opportunity to be part of the first ride.

The Chief Minister, Minister for Transport, media and community representatives boarded at Gungahlin and arrived in the city for a press conference on the platform.

A community ballot was held to determine the guest list, supported by a social media and media campaign. There was significant interest in the ballot and almost 6,000 people entered the competition, causing the Transport Canberra website to achieve its highest ever visitation.

Highlights

● Around 1.5 million people reached through media and social media channels throughout the month of the launch

● Around 30,000 passenger trips on the day of the launch with 25,000 of these concentrated throughout the event

● Event operations were well executed, all safety issues or incidents were addressed, and the event ran to schedule. The collaborative efforts of high-quality service providers and staff resulted in the delivery of an enjoyable and seamless launch event.

● No major safety issues or concerns with the safe movement of people and crowds the number one priority.

● Positive feedback received from all stakeholders involved on the day including ACT Fire and Rescue, ACT Policing and ACT Fire and Rescue and ACT Ambulance Service.

● Positive feedback received from Ministerial offices including the Chief Minister’s Office and Minister for Transport and City Services.

● All media outlets covered both events with an overwhelmingly positive sentiment

● Trending on social media On social media, #CBRlightrail generated hundreds of pieces of positive content. More than 8,000 people visited the website from social media in the month.

● Record-breaking website stats: The Transport Canberra website topped the highest user numbers with over 221k in April