When people think about the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, they usually think about how BIG it is.
The MTA serves more than 15 million people across New York City, Long Island, parts of Connecticut, and southeastern New York. Between the subways, buses, commuter rail, bridges, and tunnels, it is one of the busiest transportation systems in the world.
At this size, communication can become a challenge. How do you explain major changes to millions of riders and drivers in a way that people will actually pay attention to? How do you modernize public perception while also helping people change long-standing habits?
For more than seven years, Pulsar served as the MTA’s Marketing & Advertising Agency of Record, helping lead campaigns tied to public safety, system modernization, ridership growth, and customer engagement. Some of the most successful efforts had less to do with advertising and more to do with understanding people.
Refreshing “See Something, Say Something”
By the time Pulsar began working on the “See Something, Say Something” campaign, most New Yorkers had seen the message thousands of times.
The campaign had become part of the background of daily transit life. People recognized it, but research showed they were no longer really responding to it.
Focus groups revealed fear-based messaging was losing effectiveness, and riders connected much more strongly with positive, human stories. People were also more likely to take action when they saw real New Yorkers instead of generic warnings.
That insight completely shifted the direction of the campaign. The refreshed creative, “New Yorkers Keep New York Safe,” focused on real people sharing personal stories about reporting suspicious activity and helping protect fellow riders. The tone became more community-focused and empowering instead of intimidating.
The campaign rolled out across television, digital, social media, and in-system advertising. Pulsar also created interactive activations, including social profile frames and a New Year’s Eve experience in Times Square where people could upload selfies tied to the campaign message.
This focus on storytelling is what made the campaign work. It felt personal rather than a repetitive warning to tune out.
Helping New Yorkers Transition to Cashless Tolling
The move to cashless tolling across MTA Bridges & Tunnels was one of the biggest operational changes the agency had undertaken in years. Drivers were being asked to adapt to an entirely new system where toll booths disappeared and payments happened electronically through E-ZPass or mailed invoices.
This was a huge behavior change challenge. A large percentage of drivers still paid cash, and many were hesitant to share banking information online or switch payment methods altogether. The campaign needed to explain the transition clearly while also making people feel comfortable enough to change the habits they had relied on for years.
Pulsar developed a broad outreach campaign that included social media, radio, digital advertising, direct mail, toll lane handouts, community outreach, and multilingual materials distributed throughout neighborhoods across the region. The messaging focused heavily on convenience and savings, especially the discounts drivers could receive by switching to E-ZPass. Pulsar also redesigned the E-ZPass website to simplify the user experience and make sign-up easier for customers trying to navigate the change.
Because the transition happened on an accelerated timeline, the campaign leaned heavily into frequency and visibility. The simple goal was to make sure people saw the message often enough that the change no longer felt unfamiliar.
By the end of the conversion, E-ZPass usage surpassed 90 percent, making it one of the highest adoption rates in the country.
Launching the MYmta App by Involving Riders
When the MTA launched the new MYmta app, the agency understood that people were frustrated juggling multiple apps just to navigate the system.
The goal was to create a single app that could bring everything together. But instead of presenting the app as a finished product, the launch campaign invited riders into the process. The messaging encouraged people to download the beta version and share feedback about what they wanted the app to become. Riders became participants in shaping the experience.
The campaign ran across subway stations, buses, digital placements, and in-system advertising throughout New York City.
A second phase followed with messaging that thanked riders for their feedback and reinforced that the MTA was listening. That approach helped humanize the launch and made the app feel collaborative.
By early 2019, the app had generated more than 91 million user actions along with over 30,000 pieces of rider feedback that informed future updates.
Explaining a $32 Billion Investment in a Way People Could Understand
Infrastructure campaigns are difficult because most people do not naturally connect with billion-dollar capital plans.
The MTA’s 2015 to 2019 Capital Program proposed a $32 billion investment focused on safety, reliability, and modernization across the transit network. The challenge was making that scale understandable for policymakers, stakeholders, and the public. Instead of overwhelming audiences with technical language, Pulsar focused on simplifying the information and making it easier to absorb.
The campaign included customizable printed materials, digital resources, and a dedicated landing page designed to explain both the benefits of investment and the consequences of continued underinvestment.
Rather than talking only about projects, the campaign connected transportation funding to jobs, economic growth, and the long-term future of the region. That shift helped make the conversation feel more relevant and tangible to a broader audience.
Turning an Airport Shuttle Into a Recognizable Brand
Getting to LaGuardia Airport has never been known to be a smooth experience. So, when the MTA rebranded the Q70 route into the new “LaGuardia Link,” the opportunity was bigger than simply renaming a bus line.
The goal was to create a service that felt easy to identify, easy to understand, and more approachable for travelers unfamiliar with New York transit.
Pulsar developed the visual identity for the service, including the teal bus designs and airport-inspired graphics that helped distinguish the route from the rest of the system. The campaign expanded into airport advertising, baggage claim signage, inflight media, travel publications, social media, and digital placements targeting travelers.
The result was a transit service that felt much more visible and intuitive, especially for tourists trying to navigate the city. Shortly after launch, on-time performance for the route improved by more than 13 percent.
Making Off-Peak Rail Travel More Appealing
The Long Island Rail Road had strong commuter ridership, but off-peak travel was a harder sell.
Many riders didn’t realize the railroad offered discounted getaway packages for destinations, attractions, and seasonal events.
Instead of promoting each package individually, Pulsar created a unified “GETaways” campaign that focused on the experience of escaping the routine and exploring something new.
The creative leaned into seasonal experiences and emotional storytelling, highlighting everything from museums and festivals to beaches and local attractions. The campaign relied heavily on geo-targeted digital advertising and social media, especially Facebook and Instagram during high trip-planning periods heading into weekends.
One of the smartest parts of the campaign was its flexibility. The same creative look and feel could promote dozens of different destinations while still feeling cohesive and recognizable.
The campaign ultimately delivered significantly greater audience reach while cutting promotional costs nearly in half. It performed so well that the approach was later adapted for additional rail programs.
What All These Campaigns Had in Common
At the center of every one of these efforts was the same challenge: helping people feel more comfortable with change. Sometimes that meant asking drivers to adopt a new payment system. Sometimes it meant encouraging riders to trust a new app or engage with a public safety campaign differently.
Our ability to understand people, simplify complicated information, and communicate in a real and human way is what made these behavior change campaigns so successful.
