In 2022, as transit ridership bounced back from the impact of the pandemic, transit agencies across the nation faced a second crisis: a severe shortage of bus operators. In response, Metro launched a marketing campaign to attract more applicants, streamlined the recruitment and hiring process, raised the starting wage and improved other working conditions for new hires.
However, numbers were still falling short. Data told us that many eligible applicants never even consider the role of bus operator -- so we sought ways to humanize the profession. The bus operator dance challenge has grown from that effort.
Bus operators don't often get credit for the hard work they do to keep the region moving through rain, shine, pandemics, wildfires, hurricane-level winds all day, all night, through weekends and holidays. We seek to continue to elevate the profile of bus operators as revered, frontline public servants.
We filmed and posted a handful of dance challenge videos throughout 2022 and 2023, and they received enthusiastic feedback, but it wasn't until the fall of 2024 that one exceeded 1 million views.
One of our downtown Los Angeles bus divisions choreographed a dance and created a custom mashup of LA native Kendrick Lamar's anthem "Not Like Us" and Cameo's "Candy". In place of their traditional uniforms, they wore blue polo shirts -- the Dodgers were, after all, about to make the World Series.
We were able to leverage local LA pride through three touchpoints in the video -- "Not Like Us," blue polo shirts as a nod to the Dodgers, and, of course, our iconic Metro buses and operators.
When we posted amidst the excitement of the Dodgers' sealing the deal to go to the World Series, audiences celebrated!
This single post received
1.2M Impressions
181,026 Engagements
14.6% Avg. engagement rate per impressions
across TikTok and Instagram, with comments overwhelmingly positive and other local brand accounts as well as transit agencies across the nation chiming into the conversation.
Most importantly, however, the video injects personality into the public perception of the role of bus operator -- and showcases the agency's willingness to allow its employees to have fun in what is otherwise a serious profession with strict safety regulations. A number of current bus operators have directly attributed having seen the dance video as influencing their decision to apply for the role.
