Arco v. Autos

"What's your idea?" Again and again the Atlantic Richfield oil company asked that question in a six-month, $5.5 million advertising campaign that nagged Americans to send in suggestions for improving mass transportation. The company's own idea was plain enough. Top executives of Arco, the seventh largest U.S. oil company, were upset by public resentment of the big profits rolled up by the industry in the wake of the 1973-74 price increases. So they decided to do some image polishing by sponsoring a nationwide debate on alternatives to the family car. The response: an astonishing 30,000 ideas from all 50 states (led by car-choked California) and 20 foreign countries as well.

Early on, Arco worried that all it would get for its efforts would be, well, a lot of gas. Many of the initial suggestions came from motorists who were bitter about fuel price increases and wanted only to pop off at the company. To get the transportation debate on track, Arco's admen resorted to some minor hokum. They introduced TV and print audiences to two fictional idea contributors played by professional actors: "Juan Martinez," who proposed a 190-m.p.h. train, and "Amy Farrell," who suggested truck-drawn land ferries that would carry cars between cities.

Bumper Snatchers. Juan and Amy's planted ideas were purposely kept simple, explains Program Director George Kriste, so that others "wouldn't think they had to be an engineer to contribute." That was no problem, to judge by the number of engaging but totally impracticable suggestions that flooded into Arco's Los Angeles headquarters. For instance, a Chino, Calif., contributor, Dale Jennings, suggested that ardent energy savers be allowed to ride "Bumper-Snatchers"--lightweight pedicabs that could be hooked onto the bumpers of gas-guzzling regular cars at stop lights or highway ramps for a free ride. Another Californian, Mick McMick, urged that Los Angeles be put on "a revolving 'lazy Susan' for easy access all around." John Cody of Lynnfield, Mass., proposed a suction-tube system to "zip" commuters from suburbia to their city offices. Ed Hunter of Dayton, Ohio, felt that giant slingshots hi the suburbs could catapult commuters into outsized baseball catcher's mitts downtown: "Use baby oil to keep the mitt soft," he advised.

A good many proposals, on the other hand, were serious and promising--or at least provocative. A sampling:

JITNEY REVIVAL. Some contributors voted for jitneys--cheap, taxi-like buses that pick up passengers at designated points and deliver them to their doors in the most convenient order. Once common, they were banned in most U.S. cities in the 1920s after Intensive lobbying by the trolley industry.

"FLY ME" BUSES. People would use buses more, suggested Mrs. Carmen Dinicola of Alexandria, Va., if they had FM radio channels and served coffee and food "like the airlines."

CANAL COMMUTE. The open aqueducts and flood-control canals that snake to and through many cities might be used for commuter boats. Said Le-Roy Louchart of Fair Oaks, Calif.: "I know I for one would enjoy a cruise to the office in the morning."

NUMBERS RACKET. To encourage greater use of mass transit, several writers proposed a rolling numbers game: every time they take a bus or subway, riders would be given a lottery ticket that would make them eligible to win cash prizes in weekly drawings.

Many contributors had ideas for new kinds of vehicles: a personal trolley-auto advocated by Ronald Uher of Crystal Lake, Ill., for example, could either hook up to overhead electric trolley lines or run on its own power. Other suggestions focused on improving mass-transit finances. Several people proposed that municipal buses, trolleys and subway cars earn additional Income by hauling freight in off-hours. To produce perhaps $1.5 million in annual revenues, Benjamin Lawless of Washington, D.C., urged that a grain crop be grown on the 5 million acres of federal land bordering the interstate highways. Then there was San Diego Bus Fleet Owner Jack Haberstroh's idea: he charges no fares on his buses, but makes a profit nonetheless by turning each vehicle into a rolling advertising medium that is not only completely slathered with ads, inside and out, but also subjects passengers to tape-recorded pop music--and commercials.

Arco judges its idea-picking campaign to be a resounding public relations success. "People are calling us an enlightened company," smiles Executive Vice President E.M. ("Mo") Benson. The next step is to see if that enlightenment is contagious. Many private and public transit companies could put the most feasible ideas to good use. But first Arco is forwarding its favorite schemes to the U.S. Department of Transportation, hoping that officials there will consider the fresh new slants that were suggested by concerned Americans.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.