KiwiRail: The Conscious Crossing [image] 4

Credits & Description:

Title: The Conscious Crossing
Agency: Clemenger Bbdo | Touchcast
Brand: Kiwirail
Country: New Zealand
Entrant Company: Clemenger Bbdo | Touchcast, Wellington
Advertising Agency: Clemenger Bbdo | Touchcast, Wellington
Media Agency: Clemenger Bbdo | Touchcast, Wellington
Pr Agency: Clemenger Bbdo | Touchcast, Wellington
Production Company: Clemenger Bbdo | Touchcast, Wellington
Executive Creative Director: Brigid Alkema (Clemenger Bbdo Touchcast)
Creative Director: Emily Beautrais (Clemenger Bbdo Touchcast)
Copywriter: Jp Twaalfhoven (Clemenger Bbdo Touchcast)
Art Director: Steve Hansen (Clemenger Bbdo Touchcast)
Executive Producer: Christina Hazard (Clemenger Bbdo Touchcast)
Account Director: Claudia Zwimpfer (Clemenger Bbdo Touchcast)
Agency Producer: Carly Neemia (Clemenger Bbdo Touchcast)
Agency Producer: Carne Godfrey (Clemenger Bbdo Touchcast)
Account Manager: Fern Holloway (Clemenger Bbdo Touchcast)
Dop/Editor: Dan Monaghan (Clemenger Bbdo Touchcast)
Camera Op: Ollie Stent (Clemenger Bbdo Touchcast)
Sound Design: Paul Stent (Clemenger Bbdo Touchcast)
Designer: Steve Boggs (Clemenger Bbdo Touchcast)
Foundation Manager: Megan Drayton (Tracksafe Nz)
Rail Safety Week Co-ordinator: Kirsten Kilmister (Kiwirail)
Head Of Marketing: Ah-leen Rayner (Kiwirail)
Relevancy:
The Conscious Crossing is more than a safety system for railway level crossings. It’s an installation that actively changes user behaviour as they move through it, prompting a direct response from our audience as they engage with it.The constantly changing layout forces pedestrians to engage their brains and become consciously aware of the present dangers when approaching the tracks. Changing their behaviour right at the moment of risk.The public are also empowered to change the layout as they wish, letting them play an active role in helping keep fellow pedestrians safe, and creating an ongoing cycle of safety.
Synopsis:
Last year, 28 New Zealanders were hit or experienced near misses at railway level crossings with no warning infrastructure. Warning systems are expensive, so can’t always be installed at these crossings. So it’s up to pedestrians to check for potential dangers. But over-familiarity with the crossing environment often leads them to become complacent with its risks – causing them to inadvertently put themselves in harm’s way.KiwiRail’s core objective was to find a way to make more people consciously aware of the dangers before crossing, to prevent more people being killed or injured at railway level crossings. With traditional warning systems costing in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, our challenge was to find a smarter, simpler solution that would switch peoples’ attention back on, for a fraction of the cost (less than NZD$15,000). One that could ultimately help save lives at all 122 railway level crossings throughout New Zealand.
Execution:
The Conscious Crossing is a safety system that literally changes user behaviour as they move through it. In contrast to conventional fixed barriers systems, its layout continually changes to make the familiar environment unfamiliar – creating a multitude of ways to approach the tracks at a single crossing.Unlike other warning infrastructure which can be expensive, time-intensive to install and require power to operate, it can be easily and cost-effectively installed, without reliance on power to function. Made from similar materials to traditional barriers, it’s just as strong, yet light enough to be altered by anyone. Designed with human nature in mind, anybody can change it into any layout, any time – creating an ongoing cycle of safety between pedestrians.A cost-effective, tangible, real-world solution, The Conscious Crossing is a system that can easily be rolled out across all other crossings in New Zealand and around the world.
Outcome:
Through observation during initial trials, The Conscious Crossing has proven to directly and positively affect pedestrian behaviour.Following its success, it is currently being pushed through more extensive testing by the New Zealand Transport Agency (the national body that implements nationwide transport solutions), with the aim of implementing it at all 122 of the other similar crossings throughout New Zealand. A roll-out that could positively impact the daily routines of the tens of thousands of pedestrians who use such crossings every day – and an ongoing, tangible demonstration of KiwiRail’s commitment to rail safety.Easy to install and cost-effective to produce, The Conscious Crossing has the wide-reaching potential to provide a simple, long-term solution to help keep pedestrians safer at railway level crossings throughout the world.
Strategy:
As New Zealand’s national rail network, KiwiRail has long advocated for safety around trains and railway lines. Expensive warning systems can’t always be installed at the 122 railway level crossings throughout New Zealand. So it’s often left up to pedestrians themselves to check for trains before crossing. KiwiRail identified that regular pedestrians of these crossings have a tendency to neglect checking for risks, due to over-familiarity with the environment. It was these tens of thousands of pedestrians that KiwiRail wanted to target, to prevent from putting themselves in harm’s way.Research shows that something needs to have changed within a familiar environment for people to consciously engage with it. Our strategic approach was therefore to create a cost-effective new way to constantly keep the environment around railway level crossings fresh and unfamiliar. Something that actively engaged pedestrians’ minds and solved the problem of inattentiveness, in the moments before crossing.
Campaign Description:
Last year, 28 New Zealanders were hit or experienced near misses at railway level crossings with no warning infrastructure. Warning systems are expensive, so can’t always be installed at these crossings. So it’s up to pedestrians to check for potential dangers. But over-familiarity with the crossing environment often leads them to become complacent with its risks – causing them to inadvertently put themselves in harm’s way.KiwiRail’s core objective was to find a way to make more people consciously aware of the dangers before crossing, to prevent more people being killed or injured at railway level crossings. With traditional warning systems costing in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, our challenge was to find a smarter, simpler solution that would switch peoples’ attention back on, for a fraction of the cost (less than NZD$15,000). One that could ultimately help save lives at all 122 railway level crossings throughout New Zealand.