On Aug. 2, Community Transit was honored with the Commuting Options Award for advancing public transit at the 2023 Association for Commuter Transportation (ACT) annual international conference in Seattle. The award recognized Community Transit’s Residential Marketing Program. It was one of 14 distributed to Transportation Demand Management (TDM) professionals and organizations. 

The Residential Program partners with apartment communities to provide information to residents and help potential new riders get started with transit. Since launching as a pilot in 2020, the program has distributed over 9,000 promotional ORCA cards with month-long transit passes. Residents receive information about transit and how to claim a promotional ORCA card when they first move in and at community events that Community Transit participates in.

“Our team being recognized with this award at the largest assembly of TDM professionals worldwide was truly heartening,” says Sr. Marketing Program Manager Phillip Jefferies. “The knowledge and experience we've gained over the past few years have been invaluable, and I can't wait to connect with even more riders through this work in the years to come.”

The program contributes to Community Transit’s core values of diversity, equity, and inclusion through outreach to a diverse set of audiences and with special attention to those who may face more barriers to getting started with transit, such as lower income households, older adults, and refugees.

Community Transit is working now to expand this program to more apartment communities throughout our Snohomish County service area. If you live or work in an apartment community and are interested in partnering with Community Transit, please contact our team now. Together we can help more people get where they need to be without driving alone.