This post brings news of another set of awards that Arlington County won. This time from the American Public Transit Association (APTA). Arlington won "First Place" in the Public Relations/Awareness or Educational Campaign for it's "Teen Transit Awareness" program called iRide. Arlington also won First Place in the Illustrated Bus category for it's "Mobile Commuter Store bus."
Arlington Board Member Chris Zimmerman accepted the awards on behalf of Arlington County at the APTA Annual Meeting in Charlotte, NC in October. The elements of the Teen Transit Initiative, which Mr. Zimmerman initiated on January 2, 2006 included:
- coordination between the Department of Environmental Services (DES), Transportation; Arlington Public Schools (APS); Department of Parks and Recreation (PRCR); and the non-profit Teen Network to implement Mr. Zimmerman's vision
- surveying Arlington teens about their traveling habits and needs
- focus groups with teens about the same
- establishing a Teen Transit Advisory Board to shape and help implement the program
As a result, the following occurred this past spring:
- an iRide brochure was distributed that included a map and how to ride information (available to view at the web site)
- iRide kiosks were placed in all Arlington high school and middle schools with site-specific maps and bus schedules, bike information and the iRide brochure
- events at the schools to promote the program
- and a reduced iRide fare of $0.60 (regular fare is $1.25) on all ART buses.
The iRide program also won a Third Place Award from the Association for Commuter Transportation in the Outstanding Service Award Category at the ACT International Meeting in Seattle in September. Belated congratulations go out to Bobbi Greenberg, ACCS Marketing Director and her ad Agency Pulsar advertising, as well the teens and the other departments for being recognized for their excellent work on the iRide program.
Picture: Arlington County Board Members and two of the Teen Transit Advisory Board Members.
Chris Hamilton is the Commuter Services Chief for Arlington County, manager of CommuterPageBlog and a biking/Metro commuter from Rosemont in Alexandria.
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