Metra Creates COVID-19 Response Campaign

Metra has unveiled a new multimedia communications campaign to highlight its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring riders have a safe and healthy option for their travel needs.

The campaign’s theme — “My Metra” — is meant to remind riders and potential riders of the central role Metra plays in their lives and in their community, with advertising across a wide range of media platforms.

“The thrust of this effort is to tell our customers that we’re ready for them when they’re ready for us,’ said Metra CEO and Executive Director Jim Derwinski. “They will find clean stations and trains, a mask requirement, plenty of room for physical distancing, and a multitude of signs and announcements reinforcing our efforts to help them commute with confidence.”

The campaign will highlight the comprehensive steps Metra has taken, following the guidance of the CDC and health officials, to create a safe experience for its customers on its system. Those include daily cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting of all cars and stations; using new equipment and new cleaning methods; requiring that masks be worn onboard; providing plenty of room for riders to spread out; and giving riders plenty of time to board and deboard. Additionally, the campaign highlights Metra’s use of hospital-grade air filters and new touchless hand sanitizer dispensers in each car.

Riders will find a significant number of signs on each car reinforcing the mask and social distancing rules. Metra also has created a new ridership dashboard showing the number of people using each train so riders can make informed decisions about which trains to use.