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    1. Bus

    DASH Wins VTA Outstanding Public Transportation Marketing Award

    May 27, 2015
    Related To: Alexandria Transit Company (DASH)
    DASH
    DASH General Manager Sandy Modell joins the painting fun.
    DASH General Manager Sandy Modell joins the painting fun.

    Alexandria Transit Co. (ATC) is the  2015 recipient of the Virginia Transit Association (VTA) Outstanding Public Transportation Marketing Award. Alexandria’s DASH system was presented with the award during an awards ceremony held on May 21, in conjunction with the VTA’s annual statewide transit conference in Williamsburg, Virginia.

    DASH was selected by the association for its “DASHing for 30 years: Past, Present and Future” marketing and outreach efforts in association with DASH’s 30th anniversary milestone. The campaign included monthly activities that engaged the customers through social media and on-board promotions and the creation of the DASH 30th Anniversary video and the celebration DASH Bus.

    A selection committee made up of transit professionals from around the Commonwealth chose “DASHing for 30 Years: Past, Present and Future” based on its exceptional programs that were considered innovative and effective, and that advance and expand public transportation in the Commonwealth.

    DASH partnered with the Television Production Class at T.C. Williams High School to enlist their help in directing and producing the anniversary video. The purpose of the video was to provide viewers with a glimpse into DASH’s history and events that have made DASH an award-winning and very successful bus system. This presented a great opportunity to the students and allowed them the opportunity to be part of the DASH anniversary celebration and a meaningful community effort. The students worked very hard to produce an exceptional anniversary video for DASH that will be part of Alexandria Transit’s history for many years to come.

    Another major anniversary project was the Celebration Bus. ATC turned on of its retiring DASH buses into a paint canvas.  ATC partnered with school art programs at Alexandria Country Day School and T.C. Williams High School who took the project and ran with it. At the Del Ray Art on the Avenue event, the Celebration DASH Bus was positioned in the Del Ray Variety Store parking lot, and hundreds of children and adults alike, came by to leave their handprint on the bus. The Celebration DASH Bus has since traveled around Alexandria and has been seen at transit fairs, community and school outreach, and education programs. DASH received media attention in a majority of the local newspapers, including The Washington Post, and a variety of City newsletters. The project was such a success, ATC plans to participate in Del Ray Art on the Avenue again this year with another retiring DASH bus.