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Department rolls out 27,000‑mailer campaign to encourage sustainable transportation among new San Franciscans
Summary
The Department of the Environment launched a mailer campaign sending 27,000 postcards to new residents to promote public transit, walking and biking. Post‑mailer surveys showed 79% recall among recipients and positive reception from 78% of those who recalled the mailer; staff says the cards link to digital resources and aim to shift habits early.
San Francisco’s Department of the Environment presented a targeted outreach campaign aiming to shape transportation habits among new residents. The campaign used a physical mailer—three postcards and a welcome card—sent to 27,000 new residents and designed to point recipients to digital resources that make transit, biking and walking easier to use.
Becca Rabin, the department’s marketing and communications associate, described the rationale: new arrivals are a receptive audience for behavior change, and a concise, shareable mailer can bridge to online information. Rabin reported survey results intended to measure reach and reception: “73% of the people we surveyed had moved to San Francisco within the past 6 months,” she said, and “79 percent recalled this mailer” with “78% received it positively” among those who recalled it. The department also found high Clipper card ownership among new residents and observed that recalling the mailer was correlated with stronger perceptions that it is easy to get around San Francisco without a car.
Commissioners asked whether the mailer included non‑English languages (it did not), whether digital tracking was used (the department relied on partner websites and did not track unique visits), and requested additional survey questions and potential follow‑up mechanisms for future iterations.
Provenance: Presentation and survey results appear in Item 9 of the meeting record.
