Transportation Event Ideas

Here is a quick list of some of the more creative ways to promote transportation options. All of these ideas are proven successful events that your group can consider organizing.

Transit Displays and Activities- organizing events on the public transit system is surprisingly easy and effective for reaching a wide range of people. For some events, the permission of the transit officials is needed, and is often fairly easy to obtain. In Toronto, the subway system provides a sheltered, defined space for some events and displays. Some events tried in the past have been:

	a scavenger hunt on the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) system, with clues and prizes at different stops. Participants buy a day pass from the TTC and ride all day.
	a subway party, to reclaim the public space and a social, enjoyable space for people
	step calisthenics in the subway (there are plenty of steps) to promote exercise and walking
	a display at each subway stop will reach a phenomenal amount of people. On December 6th 1993, feminist groups across Metro organized displays about family violence for each subway stop (with permission of the TTC).

Go Green Days - successfully organized in Peterborough, the idea is to challenge people's ideas about transportation. One component was to make the local transit free for a day. Kids were taught about the bus system in classes and taken for rides on the buses. They also created an impromptu bike lane and distributed a tabloid called "Peterborough Questions the Car" to residents.
 

Street Openings - closing the streets to cars is a wonderful way to open the streets up for community use. Toronto has some spectacular festivals such as Caribana and Lesbian and Gay Pride Day (each drawing crowds of more than 1 million people) to local community festivals such as the Spadina Festival. 

Money - closing the streets takes money to pay the police to divert traffic, so you'll need to sell booth spaces for vendors or community groups, host a beer garden or have sponsors. The Caribana organizers, whose event drew millions of tourist dollars for hotels and restaurants, found themselves in debt until they got funding from the municipal government and sold vendor's permit for craftpeople and businesses. Ten years after Caribana began, the local television station realized that if they broadcast the parade they could draw an audience, and the organizers costs for advertising were effectively eliminated.

Support - it's important to get support from local businesses (Pride Day makes tons of money for Church St. businesses who donate funds to the organizers) and politicians who will support your application for the street closure permits, vendor's permits, liquor permits and so on. Community media will also usually be supportive in publicizing your event. However, based on the Toronto experience, don't expect the hotel and tourist industry to pay attention to your event until you've been making them money for several years.

Ongoing events - street events grow each year they happen. The first couple of years may be a little slow but don't be disappointed. It gets easier to organize and increasingly popular each year.

Volunteer energy - organizing a full day of activities, parades, vendors, displays, music and crowds takes a lot of people. This kind of event needs an extensive support base of several different community groups, dozens or hundreds of volunteers, a large core group that will work year round for the event and cooperation from police, City Hall and local businesses to succeed.
 

Leave your car at home for a day - usually done in conjunction with Environment Day, this event challenges people to try alternatives to driving. Normally, this is organized as a city-wide event, although smaller scale challenges are also possible, that includes widespread publicity about the day. You also need to coordinate some kind of follow-up or evaluation - interviews with people who did leave their cars at home and so on. Pollution Probe does this once a year with companies and organizations.
 

All day bus ride - buy a day pass and ride all day on the buses. This can be useful for handing our leaflets, walking the transit system with banners or placards for your (relatively) captive audience or raising awareness about transportation while riding with a workshop group on the transit.
 
 

Music on wheels - a group in Toronto have created a "Subtonic Cycle" which is a huge pedal-powered platform with various drums (made from recycled buckets), speakers and cymbals that can be toured around to festivals, parades and events. The cycle is an interactive instrument, and everyone is encouraged to pick up some drumsticks and join in the rhythm. One of the band members will set the beat and another will create the melodic line.
 
 

Street theatre - what better place for educating people about pedestrian issues or transportation issues than on the streets? Street theatre is a live performance about an issue that draws crowds on the street who stop and check it out. Street theatre can accompany speeches, demonstrations, rallies and leafleting. The key is to have a good sound system so the theatre is audible, be visible but not entirely blocking traffic (which annoys people) and a clear, topical message. 

Compiled by Regan McClure