ORANGE, Calif., Nov. 22, 2021 -- The Los Angeles – San Diego – San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) Rail Corridor Agency (Agency), which oversees the Amtrak® Pacific Surfliner® service, was honored with two AdWheel Grand Awards by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). The AdWheel Awards recognize the "best of the best" in marketing and communications within the public transportation industry. Grand Award winners are selected from the First-Place winners within a category.
A ceremony was held at APTA's TRANSform Conference in early November, honoring AdWheel winners for 2020 and 2021. The LOSSAN Agency was announced as the winner of two Grand Awards in the following strategic categories:
- Best Marketing and Communications on COVID-19 – Pacific Surfliner COVID-19 Social Media Communications (2021)
- Best Marketing and Communications Educational Initiative – Pacific Surfliner and Disneyland Resort Partnership to Promote Alternate Transportation Options (2020)
The LOSSAN Agency's COVID-19 social media communications campaigns played a critical role in reaching tens of thousands of people at the height of the pandemic to share timely and accurate information about rail travel, including schedule updates, health and safety information, passenger tips, and more. Social media was also leveraged to maintain relationships with customers at a time when they weren't actively riding the trains, and build a foundation to recover ridership in the future.
"At a time when travel demand was at an unprecedented low, our staff was quick to maximize social media communications as a strategic tool to spread awareness on the safety and service adjustments made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic," said Donna DeMartino, Managing Director of the LOSSAN Agency. "It is an honor to be recognized by our peers within the transportation industry for our efforts to keep the community informed and engaged during the prolonged pandemic."
The LOSSAN Agency was presented with a second Grand Award in the 2020 educational initiative category, which recognized marketing efforts from 2019 that successfully increased awareness of the train as a travel option to the Disneyland® Resort. The campaign promoted an ongoing partnership with the Disneyland® Resort that includes savings on Theme Park admission for Pacific Surfliner customers and a discount on train travel to Anaheim.
The entries were evaluated by industry peers and awarded in groups based on system size. More than 360 entries were submitted for the 2021 awards, the highest number of submissions in several years.
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About the Amtrak® Pacific Surfliner®
The Pacific Surfliner travels along a 351-mile coastal rail route through San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, serving 27 stations. It is the busiest state-supported intercity passenger rail route in the United States. To learn more and plan a trip, visit pacificsurfliner.com.
About the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency
The Los Angeles – San Diego – San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) Rail Corridor Agency is a joint powers authority composed of rail owners, operators and planning agencies along the entire LOSSAN rail corridor. In addition to working to improve passenger rail ridership, revenue, on-time performance, operational flexibility, and safety, the LOSSAN Agency assumed management responsibility for the Pacific Surfliner service in July 2015, following the execution of an interagency transfer agreement with the state of California. For more information, visit Lossan.org.
About the American Public Transportation Association
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is a nonprofit international association of 1,500 public and private sector organizations which represent a $74 billion industry that directly employs 435,000 people and supports millions of private sector jobs. APTA members are engaged in the areas of bus, paratransit, light rail, commuter rail, subways, waterborne services, and intercity and high-speed passenger rail. This includes: transit systems; planning, design, construction, and finance firms; product and service providers; academic institutions; transit associations and state departments of transportation. APTA is the only association in North America that represents all modes of public transportation. APTA members serve the public interest by providing safe, efficient and economical transit services and products.
For More Information:
Roger Lopez, LOSSAN Agency, rlopez@octa.net
Media Contact:
Laura Lanzi, The ACE Agency, lauralanzi@theaceagency.com
On behalf of LOSSAN Agency
