Trains Not Toll Roads was a community campaign supported by the City of Yarra and other local councils which ran from March-August, 2013. The campaign supported the development of rail public transport projects such as Doncaster Rail rather than the East-West Toll Road and Tunnel, which would have had a negative effect on the local area.

Assemblo was brought on to the project to develop an effective comms strategy to support the campaign. Assemblo facilitated this through the development of a strong social media platform for the passionate online community, the creation of an online petition, and a website to serve as the key point of information, news and events. The website featured translations for several languages across all its content, including Vietnamese, Greek and Mandarin.

The campaign was further supported by email marketing and digital advertising across search and social media. We helped run a large launch night and produced video from the event which was used in comms activity. PR coverage included email blasts to public and stakeholder databases, radio spots on 3AW breakfast, all of which was captured and promoted through the website.

The campaign was a huge success with more than 11,000 signatures obtained on the petition and strong engagement on social media (including more than 10,000 followers on Facebook).

Ultimately, the East-West Link project was suspended with greater emphasis placed on improvements across public transport.