Challenge

Despite living in a seat of international power, DC workers don't have much control over their commutes. The District is notoriously congested, even with a world-class transit system in Metro.

Solution

What if there were a way to give something back? Since Metro introduced wi-fi as part of system-wide station upgrades, what if the Washington Post used it to freely distribute its online edition?

In 2018, WMATA updated several of its high-traffic stations with WiFi, but few riders knew about the rollout. And those who did, were not any more likely to ride Metro. Meanwhile, the city's most popular newspaper—a must-read for DC workers and policy wonks—is inaccessible to the masses because it exists behind a paywall.

To promote Metro and the Washington Post, the newspaper would push exclusive content to riders only when they connected to WMATA's wi-fi. Once connected, people could bypass the Post's paywall. The more someone rode Metro, the more news they’d get. When you increase the overall rider experience, you increase your ridership.