Blacksburg Transit has earned a First Place Award in a national competition for the 2017 Annual American Public Transportation Association (APTA) AdWheel Awards.

BT competed against similar-sized transit systems across the United States and their “Drive for BT” advertising campaign earned first place as the “Best Marketing and Communications Educational Effort” in the category of “Social Media.”

In the submitted campaign, BT highlighted their unique social media advertising efforts that helped to solve their driver shortage issue. By adding social media to their advertising mix and strategically targeting three age groups with intriguing creative, BT increased staffing by 22 percent.

BT’s goal was to bring in 200 applications over a 12-month period; they met and exceeded this goal with these ads in just five months.

BT will move on to compete against other first place winners for the Grand Award. Grand Award winners will be honored at the APTA EXPO in Atlanta, Georgia in October 2017.

To view the campaign and for questions or comments, please contact Fairen Horner at fhorner@blacksburg.gov or 443-1593.

– Submitted by

Fairen Horner