RideKC Earns Marketing and Communications Awards

RideKC was recently honored with two awards from the American Public Transportation Association for its marketing and communications efforts last year. The AdWheel awards recognize RideKC’s work in social media and special events. The agency won “Best Marketing and Communications to Highlight Transit Needs/Funding - Social Media” for The White House visit to RideKC, and “Best Marketing and Communications on COVID-19 - Special Event” for teaming up with a local hospital to provide transportation for vaccinations.

In December 2021, United States President Joseph Biden visited RideKC headquarters in Kansas City, Mo., to address how the Bi-Partisan Infrastructure Law would benefit the transit and transportation industries. While the eyes of the nation were on Kansas City, RideKC seized this opportunity to highlight our agency priorities and the potential benefits of increased public transit funding.

RideKC and KCATA were thrilled to provide a location, but any details and messaging for the visit were truly a state secret. RideKC’s social media manager was not guaranteed access to the event, so we had to prepare to cover this for our social media followers remotely, while experiencing it on C-SPAN or through local media coverage. RideKC concentrated its social activity on Twitter, with follow-up on our strongest and most relevant network, relying on real-time tweets.

RideKC focused our messaging on our local priorities for transit which would be aided by increased federal funding, along with celebrating recent projects that were made possible in part by federal support for local transit.

The response to the social media was overwhelmingly positive, with a 10X increase in engagements and an 8X increase in impressions. Several high-profile local reporters and news outlets, APTA, and local elected officials shared RideKC’s pro-transit message.  

The legislation will expand public transit options in Missouri, Kansas and every state in the country, replace thousands of deficient transit vehicles, including buses, with clean, zero emission vehicles, and improve accessibility for the elderly and people with disabilities. pic.twitter.com/o0hwsdHpCL

— RideKC (@RideKCTransit) December 8, 2021

It will drive the creation of good-paying union jobs and grow the economy sustainably and equitably so that everyone gets ahead for decades to come. Combined with the Build Back Framework, it will add on average 1.5 million jobs per year for the next 10 years. pic.twitter.com/jYV2DvLgr4

— RideKC (@RideKCTransit) December 8, 2021

COVID Vaccination Efforts Win Praise 

RideKC also received an award for our special event to connect senior citizens with COVID-19 vaccines.

Residents of the Housing Authority of Kansas City (HAKC) were signing up for vaccines when the COVID-19 vaccines were first distributed. However, when registering for the shots they often reported they didn’t have transportation to get to the vaccination site. University Health reached out to RideKC for assistance, and we quickly came up with a plan to get the residents from their apartment complex to the hospital and home.

There was more public awareness of transit’s role in the pandemic. The event highlighted KCATA’s role in getting people to healthcare, jobs, housing and education even during the pandemic. After this event, other government agencies and organizations called on KCATA, including the governor of Missouri and Children’s Mercy Hospital.  

This is another example of how RideKC has weaved itself into the fabric of the community to help our most vulnerable populations get to valuable healthcare services during the pandemic.