Operation Lifesaver:

Rail Safety Education

& Public Awareness Initiatives

2015 NATIONAL HIGHWAY-RAIL GRADE CROSSING SAFETY TRAINING CONFERENCENovember 2, 2015 – Arlington, TX

Who We Are

Operation Lifesaver is the nation’s nonprofit rail safety education organization, with the mission to prevent collisions, injuries and fatalities on and around railroad tracks and grade crossings.

OLI: The National Office

Purpose

The OLI national office leads and supports 49 State OL programs:

• Develops and approves all safety education materials

• Manages national public outreach campaigns

• Supports State programs and transit agencies with grant funding for local and state safety projects

• Partners with railroads, U.S. DOT, and other stakeholders in spreading the OL safety message

Funding

• Federal funds from FRA, FHWA and FTA• Nonfederal funds from U.S. railroads,

transit agencies, rail labor, and railroad supply industries

What Drives Our Mission

483 people killed, 416 people injured

in trespassing incidents in 2014*

*preliminary data from Federal Railroad Administration

269 people killed,

854 people injured

in crossing collisions

in 2014*

Delivering OL’s Rail Safety Message

1. In-Person/Online

Education Efforts

2. Public Awareness Campaigns/

Social Media Efforts

Operation Lifesaver

Authorized Volunteers (OLAVs)

• Operation Lifesaver depends on over 2,200 active authorized volunteers throughout the country who spread the rail safety message.

• OLAVs are trained by taking an online e-Learning Authorized Volunteer Education course on rail safety.

• OLAVs then have a face-to-face session with their state coordinator or a coach to ensure that they’re ready to make safety presentations.

Educational Products

• Standard OLAV safety presentation slides have safety message embedded on slide

• OLAV Educational Materials library is organized by type of audience, has variety of materials

• New products for OLAVs in the next year include children slides, more “no-tech” activities, new supplemental transit slides, new “mini-videos” and a brand new personalized OLAV-only area on the website.

E-Learning

For Truck Drivers,

School Bus Drivers,

and coming soon ….

for First Responders

Design

Context Challenge

Activity Feedback

Effective Learning

Learners Are Motivated

“It takes energy to learn – one’s own energy”

• Build on anticipated outcomes.

• Put the learner at risk.

• Have learner attempt real or authentic tasks –leading to more interest.

First Responder e-Learning…

searching for risky behaviors

First Responder e-Learning –

Scenario Response

A National Public Awareness Campaign

• Goal: Heighten public

awareness of the need for

caution near train tracks for

pedestrians, drivers,

passenger rail/transit users

• A key target audience:

males ages 18-35

• Core message: “It’s No

Contest”

• Bilingual: Materials in

English and Spanish

www.SeeTracksThinkTrain.org

Print Materials

ST3 Billboards

Digital ST3 Materials

Digital ST3 Materials

Other Campaign Assets

Other Campaign Assets

ST3 PSA – Trespass Prevention (2014)

2014 TV and Radio PSA Placements

• 578 TV stations

• 2,819 radio stations

in the “Top 15” states with highest trespass fatalities

TV and Radio PSAs sent to

ST3 PSA – Rail Crossing Safety (2015)

2015 TV and Radio PSA Placements

• 512 TV stations• 500 cable outlets• 1,459 radio stations

in the “Top 15” states with highest crossing collisions

TV and radio PSA packages sent to

ST3 PSA Broadcast Results

The ST3 PSA’s have reached a total potential audience of 516 million

Television PSA (English and Spanish) • 286 Stations• 41,516 Broadcasts• Total potential impressions: 195 m

Radio PSAs (English & Spanish, Trespass & Crossing) • 156 Stations• 85,167 Broadcasts• Total potential impressions: 321 m

Additional Airplay

1) You Tube Advertising: Targeted demographic YouTube viewers see the OLI VPSA as a preview when watching videos portraying dangerous driving behavior.

2) Movie Theatre Advertising: Both paid placements and donated PSA placements

3) Film Festival Placement: Featured in Atlanta Film Festival

4) Amtrak Train Days: All ST3 videos shown on large screens on Amtrak Exhibit Train

ST3 Campaign Earns

National Creative Awards

Platinum- See Tracks? Think Train! Campaign

Gold- Billboards- Posters

Honorable Mention- TV PSA- Radio PSA- ST3 Nonprofit Website

The ST3 campaign won 6 different MarComAwards, a creative competition for marketing and communications administered by the Association of Marketing and Communications Professionals.

ILCAD Media Tour

OLI partnered with U.S. DOT to launch the new video PSA for ST3 campaign

29 interviews over a 4-hour satellite media tour, involving:• OLI President Joyce Rose• OLI campaign spokesman Dr. Lanny Wilson, whose teenage daughter Lauren

died in a crossing incident• FRA Acting Administrator Sarah Feinberg• FHWA Administrator Greg Nadeau• FTA Acting Administrator Therese McMillan

Interviews were pitched to the “Top 15” states with highest number of crossing collisions in 2014

ILCAD Results

Satellite Media Tour Results

• 100 Placements across TV & Radio, 2.6 million viewers

• 54 Print Stories, 792,000 readers

Online Audience Engagement

• Visits to SeeTracksThinkTrain.org up 181%

• Visits to OLI.org up 10%• Social Media reach up 357%, engagement up 176%• 3500 VPSA views on Vimeo

ILCAD State Events

22 State OL Programs scheduled education, enforcement and outreach events

Wisconsin Rail Safety Week

Tri-Rail Crossing Blitz, Florida California “Think Train” signs

Help Spread the ST3 Message

• Download and use campaign materials – on websites, in social media

• Participate in public events

• Link to the SeeTracksThinkTrain.orgwebsite from your homepage

• Inform OLI of ST3 events and activities being carried out by your company or organization

A concerning trend

July 2015

“A 25-year-old male photographer was photographing a model on some railroad tracks in Downtown Fresno when he was struck and killed instantly by a northbound train.”

June 2014

“A photographer lost his life last Saturday during a photo shoot on the Union Pacific U.S. Highway 50 overpass in Sedalia, MO when [a] train came around a blind corner and couldn’t stop in time to avoid hitting him.”

Tragic Results of the Trend

Tragic Results of the Trend

Tragic Results of the Trend

5 people killed and injured taking photos

on tracks in 2014

5 people killed taking photos and videos

on tracks so far in 2015

Outreach to Photographers

• New Animated PSA’s targeted to both professional photographers and selfie-takers

• Letter-writing campaign from the OL state programs

• Sharable socialgraphics

Outreach to Filmmakers

• NTSB Recommendation following Sarah Jones death in Jesup, Georgia during filming of Midnight Rider

• Partnership with Contract Services Administrative Trust Funds (CSATF) – collection of filmmaker unions, all of which have safety guidelines for all filming activities

• OLI to collaborate on safety guidelines and curriculum for film schools

Connect and Collaborate

www.oli.org

www.facebook.com/operation.lifesaver

operation_lifesaver_inc

@olinational

http://pinterest.com/olinational/