The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA) won one grand prize and 3 first prizes in the American Public Transportation Association’s (APTA) 2013 AdWheel Competition. The awards recognize excellence in marketing efforts among the nation’s transit systems. The awards were presented at APTA’s Annual Conference, held last week in Chicago.

The Authority won the grand prize and a first prize in the Promotion/Special Event category for Tri-Rail’s “Ride and Play Day.” The event was created to attract leisure riders, primarily families, to promote the new hourly schedule on weekends and holidays. Due to all of the publicity and promotional efforts, almost 7,000 people rode Tri-Rail that day, garnering the second-highest ridership for a single event on a weekend since the service was expanded in March 2013.

The SFRTA also won first prize in the Advertisement/Promotion category for the “Rail Love Affair” print ad series. The effort reached a multicultural audience and various market segments. As part of the campaign, consumers were encouraged to enter a web-based contest to win a diamond ring. It is estimated that the campaign reached 3.2 million consumers.

Tri-Rail’s new pocket schedule took first prize in the Schedule Notice/Timetable category. The schedule was targeted to reach current and potential riders, offering a smaller, more convenient brochure with the train schedule and other pertinent information. The effort embraced multicultural markets with versions translated into Spanish and Creole.
Bitner Goodman of Fort Lauderdale, the Authority’s long-standing Agency of Record, created the prize-winning entries.