RTD to launch 'Impact Team' initiative to assist customers during service disruptions and large-scale events

This summer will be an unprecedented one for RTD. After 30 years of continual light rail service, the agency is undertaking a project to invest tens of millions of dollars into reconstructing track in the downtown loop, as well as completing the final phase of the coping panels project adjacent to I-25. These two major projects will greatly impact the agency’s services and are compounded by the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche looking to make deep playoff runs and a number of major concerts at Ball Arena, Coors Field and Empower Field at Mile High Stadium.

Communicating information to customers on this scale requires a new approach, one that RTD has carefully crafted leading up to this summer. Beginning next month, the agency will launch a pilot program called “Impact Team” that deploys employees at rail stations and bus stops to provide on-site customer service.

The initiative, led by RTD’s Communications and Engagement Department’s Business Program Manager Betsy Hinojosa, seeks to provide a boots-on-the-ground approach to the traditional customer service model. Team members will be at designated locations to provide wayfinding for customers, as well as sharing important information about the disruptions at large-scale events.

Approaches like this are not new to transit agencies but are new to RTD.

“Multiple transit agencies across the country have some variation of an impact team,” Hinojosa said. “Some are formally called ‘ambassadors’ or comprised of strategic deployments, scheduling agency leaders and employees at light rail platforms, subway stations, or transit centers to answer customers’ questions and provide in-person support. It is also an opportunity to simply say, ‘Thank you.’”

Impact Team assignments will be based on where a presence is needed most, such as support for a big event or, in the case of D and H line customers, their trains being rerouted to Union Station.

“All Impact Team assignments are tailored to where our presence is needed, whether for new customers or returning customers,” Hinojosa said. “Examples include directing customers at a light rail station because their train is detoured to Denver Union Station for the summer, or welcoming concertgoers at the Empower Field Station before the Rolling Stones concert.”

Teams will not be solely dispatched for major events, however. There will be a variety of assignments that will be typically scheduled during the standard business work week and during traditional commuting hours through late summer. Impact Team members will be provided with uniquely branded RTD apparel, a resource lanyard, and crossbody sling bag with resource materials to serve with confidence on-the-go.

Improving the customer experience is critical to the agency’s strategic priority of “creating a welcoming transit environment,” and Hinojosa is confident that this approach reinforces it.

“We are focused on improving the customer experience by creating a welcoming transit environment,” Hinojosa said. “Using our own people power, we must innovate to meet the current needs of customers, provide value to the community, and work to remove barriers to using the system. We want customers to choose RTD because they trust us, see us, and feel supported when opting to ride a bus or train. We also want to show that, even during maintenance and significant disruptions, RTD is there for you.”

While this is a pilot program, Hinojosa is optimistic that the program will become a permanent tactic the agency can use for major disruptions and large events in the future.

“The great thing about joining the Impact Team is getting to shape the future of what it would look like for the agency for years to come,” Hinojosa said. “Join me!”

The pilot phase of the program will kick off with an initial half-day customer experience classroom training session May 15, and second training session offered May 16. The trainings will be co-led by Brandon Figliolino, Manager of Community Engagement. The Impact Team pilot program will conclude in September upon completion of the Coping Panels and Downtown Rail Reconstruction projects.

The pilot program seeks up to 15 employees who have the availability and approval from their direct supervisor to participate in the program. All activities will take place during paid working hours, and Impact Team assignments will be scheduled for no more than two-hour time slots, e.g., 9 to 11 a.m., and participants will be dispatched in teams of two.

Employees who are interested in applying for the pilot program must meet the following criteria and complete a form of interest, linked below, by April 30:

• Under the direction and permission of the employee’s direct supervisor, the employee must participate in at least four separate Impact Team opportunities during the four-month pilot phase of the program.
• Employee must be comfortable engaging directly with customers in a public space, responding to continuous customer inquiries about RTD’s services, including situations that may be frustrating or tense.
• Employee is expected to provide real-time feedback about the program and be available to give input that will further shape the Impact Team.
• Employee understands this project will occur mostly outside, at rail station platforms or near bus stops. Weather conditions will vary.
• Employee must be employed by RTD for at least six months.
• Employee must feel comfortable using a smart phone or other tablet device to help customers locate available service information and demonstrate how to use the RTD MyRide, Transit Watch, and NextRide applications.
• Employee is comfortable communicating with and supporting diverse populations.

Employees who meet the criteria above are encouraged to apply at https://forms.office.com/g/4E28jqgf9A.

Hinojosa is excited to be leading this pilot program and is eager to meet customers where they are to help them navigate this summer’s disruptions with as little headache as possible. Follow-up questions about the program can be directed to Hinojosa at [email protected].

“Every new day is an opportunity to ensure our customers choose us again, tomorrow,” Hinojosa said. “The Impact Team can influence that by meeting them where they are and providing solutions. Customers and their experiences are the heart of our business and the reason we exist.”

“As Impact Team members, we are reminding our customers that we do not forget this fact and will demonstrate that we are the trusted leader in mobility.”