The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Transit agency wins multiple awards
Laketran recently earned national recognition from the American Public Transportation Association, winning three first place 2017 Adwheel Awards celebrating the best communications and marketing efforts in the transit industry in 2016.
Laketran took home awards in the following categories:
• Best Comprehensive Campaign to Increase Ridership or Sales: “Adventures in Commuting,” a mixed media campaign including digital, print, radio and Facebook ads geotargeted to people commuting from Lake County to Cleveland.
• Best Print Media to Increase Ridership or Sales: “Park-n-Ride Next Exit billboard” • Best Educational Print Media: “Real-Time Rider Tools door-hanger rack card”
According to a Laketran news release, the agency used the new electronic billboard, located about a half-mile east of the Lloyd Road exit on Route 2, to encourage drivers commuting into Cleveland to try Laketran’s Wickliffe
Park-n-Ride location.
Laketran placed the Parkn-Ride Next Exit billboard on Aug. 22, 2016, and continued to run it periodically. September ridership for Route 12, which operates out of the Wickliffe Park-n-Ride, grew 45 percent within one month of the billboard placement, ending 2016 with a 36 percent increase in ridership over 2015.
After installing GPS-enabled, automatic vehicle locators on its bus fleet, in June 2016, Laketran launched Rider Tools that offer advanced trip planning with Google Transit and a real-time interactive map to track or locate bus stops online at laketran.com, the release stated. The new Rider Tools also offer a Next Bus Departure texting option so riders can text a code to find out when the next bus will depart their bus stop.
Laketran was awarded first place in Best Educational Print Media for a door-hanger rack card designed to educate riders to use Laketran’s new RealTime Rider Tools. Laketran placed door hangers on the grip bars in all of Laketran’s Local Routes and Parkn-Ride buses to improve passengers’ awareness regarding use of the new technology, making riding Laketran even easier.
Laketran’s Director of Marketing and Communications Julia Schick accepted the awards in Washington, D.C., on behalf of the agency.
“Two of our priorities as an agency are to continue to improve the rider experience and educate Lake County residents about the services we offer,” she said. “We are proud of the way that we have continuously met these goals and we are honored to be acknowledged for our creativity, messaging and hard work.”
Schick acknowledged Blackbird Interactive, a Willoughby-based design and digital marketing firm, for its creative talents that designed the Rider Tools and “Adventures in Commuting” campaigns.
“While Lake County may be small, we have a great community of designers and publishers that help us create and display our communications,” Schick said. “We are proud to share our achievements with Blackbird and local publications, radio stations and media outlets that help us get our message out.”
Laketran Board President Brian Falkowski said the recognition is a compliment from industry peers at the national level.
“I am very proud of our talented marketing team and how they creatively make sure our customers and Lake County residents know how we are here to serve the community.”