PRE-MARKETING FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW

Selling the potential rider on rail rapid transit must begin long before the line is ready for operation. Premarketing is defined as the introduction of marketing techniques into the very earliest phases of transit planning. In the past business and politicians would agree on a common course of action and the transit system would be in place while often ignoring the ideas of those who would become its most consistent supporters as riders. Premarketing played a role for Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit, Metro-Dade in Miami, and MTA in Baltimore. Managers of these rapid transit projects garnered community support long before going to UMTA for planning and design funding. Experiences of the three systems are described with major attention given to Miami.