KCATA Wins First Prize Award in National Transit Competition

Oct. 14, 2014
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) has awarded the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA) a First Prize in the 2014 Annual AdWheel Awards competition.

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) has awarded the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA) a First Prize in the 2014 Annual AdWheel Awards competition. The AdWheel Awards acknowledge the creative excellence of member public transportation systems and business members in advertising, communications, and marketing.

KCATA won the category of “Social Media: Twitter” for its Twitter account, @KCATAMetro, and its use of social media 2013-2014 winter storm season.

Twitter has been a strong social media outlet for KCATA. The communications staff at the transit agency made a conscious effort to be as informative and responsive as possible during any winter weather events. Twitter was especially effective in communicating time-sensitive information and in performing customer service. These uses strengthen customer satisfaction, with the desired result of increasing ridership and public support for transit.

The prizes are awarded for five main categories and are evaluated by industry peers, based on the following parameters: target audience, situation/challenge for creating the entry, strategy/objective of the entry and the results/impact of the entry. KCATA competed against transit systems between 4 million and 20 million riders per year for the award.

“We are thrilled that APTA recognized us for our use of social media,” said Marketing Supervisor Bridget Moss. “We are honored to be recognized from among the many impressive transit marketing efforts from across the nation. But more importantly, we were happy to be there for our customers, on the streets and online, during the severe weather last winter.”

KCATA was recognized at a special ceremony during the American Public Transportation Association's 2014 Annual Meeting in Houston.