TRANSPARENCY CHALLENGE; MEXICO
Please Disturb the Driver! was founded by Miguel Torhton, Mexican citizen and Master in Public Policy graduate from The George Washington University. This new social venture will distribute a low cost intervention in the public transport in Mexico City to reduce the number of road accidents. Following the experiences in other countries, this intervention will encourage passengers to speak up to induce social pressure on the driver. The project aims to reach more than half million passengers per day within three months and hopes to transform public transport culture in Mexico by expanding this initiative to the largest cities in the country.
PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED
Stickers displayed in public buses encouraging the public to stand up to reckless driving. This will reduce the number of traffic accidents caused by buses.
Learn more about the Transparency Challenge and how citizen reporting platforms can be used to hold government officials accountable and reduce corruption.
DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION
The intervention distributed by Please Disturb the Driver! (PDD) is based on posting evocative messages throughout the public transport (bus) system in Mexico City to encourage passengers to speak up against different forms of reckless driving. Their mission is to empower as many passengers as possible to speak up to reduce traffic accidents. This social experiment has proved successful in Kenya, where it significantly reduced the number of road accidents in the public transport system.
During the planning phase of the pilot, PDD will partner with insurance companies, public transport offices, public transport unions, and innovation agencies within the Mexico City Government to distribute the messages. They will craft messages in focus groups to define the most evocative messages for Mexican culture and language. Four visible stickers with the best messaging will be installed within the treatment group of buses (a control group of buses will be used to measure effectiveness of the campaign). Communication with the bus drivers will be face-to-face. Interns working with the project will check on the quality of the stickers at the end of each day with one bus and bus driver winning a prize. After 8 to 12 months, it will be possible for the PDD team to measure the reduction in traffic accidents between the treatment and control bus groups.
PILOT AND SCALING GOALS
- Have stickers in 1,360 buses by the end of year 1
- Have stickers in 2,600 buses by the end of year 2
- Reach 590,000 passengers per day during the pilot phase
FOUNDING TEAM
Miguel Angel Torhton - Founder and Program Coordinator