Capital Metro's i-Ride campaign won a national AdWheel Award from the American Public Transportation Association. The association announced the winners at their annual membership meeting and banquet in San Diego on October 6. Capital Metro was competing against 750 entries in the contest.
The goal of the i-Ride campaign was to increase ridership, particularly among young adults. The campaign launched this spring with a "Tell us Your Story" contest. Riders were encouraged to send in their creative testimonials about why they ride. Working in collaboration with Capital Metro's advertising agency, Sherry Matthews Advocacy Marketing, we created an i-Ride presence on YouTube, Facebook and Flickr, in addition to creating an i-Ride Web site.
The i-Ride contest ended, but the good ideas didn't. Capital Metro staff have been discussing whether and how i-Ride might evolve into a more permanent component of Capital Metro's marketing strategy. One of the video winners from the contest is now working for Capital Metro as an intern. UT film student Alex Diamond is creating some video clips for our upcoming newly-designed Web site--fun videos to help orient riders to our system: how to ride, how to load up your bike, where/how to insert your fare, etc. Check out his winning i-Ride video here.
