Community Transit honored with two APTA AdWheel Awards for marketing work

Photo caption: Community Transit Marketing Content Strategist Rory Graves (second from left), Marketing Director Jennifer Jeter (center), and Marketing Campaign Manager Erin Cummings (second from right) accept an award onstage at the 2026 APTA AdWheel Awards.

On Feb. 26, Community Transit took home two first-place awards from the American Public Transportation Association’s 2026 AdWheel Awards! APTA members receive these awards for achievements in communications, marketing, and customer experience.

Fifty organizations received first-place honors at the ceremony in Savannah, Georgia. The top recipients will go on to compete for 15 2026 APTA AdWheel Grand Awards, which will be awarded at a reception from Oct. 4–7 in Chicago, Illinois.

We received first-place awards in the following categories:
• “Best Educational Electronic Media” for our The Transit Effect video series with Ken Jennings
• “Best Educational Special Event” for our Bussin’ Basics events that educate youth about riding transit.

“Community Transit is dedicated to making public transportation accessible and easy for everyone, and connecting with customers in fun and engaging ways is an important part of this mission,” said Community Transit CEO Ric Ilgenfritz. “I am proud of our staff for their hard work in these educational efforts, which spotlight transit as a great choice.” 

In The Transit Effect video series, Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings explores the history and impact of public transit in the U.S. and the Pacific Northwest. The first four episodes are available online. Three additional episodes will be released later this year.

Rory Graves, marketing content strategist, said the campaign was about “going beyond service information and inviting people to think about why public transit matters and how it shapes the places we live.”

“Collaborating with Ken Jennings made that storytelling even more engaging,” she added. “I am thankful that we had the chance to do this kind of storytelling and even more honored that our work was recognized with this APTA award.”

In the Bussin’ Basics event series, Community Transit visited schools throughout Snohomish County to teach students about riding the bus. 

“We are proud that our Bussin’ Basics event series was honored,” said Natalie Lawrence, marketing program strategist for our youth program. “We have delivered these events at schools throughout the county, which has helped boost our youth ridership. Educational events like these give students the opportunity to connect with frontline staff, and we hope they help inspire the next generation of transit riders.” 

You can learn more about the other winners and their campaigns here.

Congratulations to our team on this accomplishment!