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RFTA wins top awards

Aspen Times Staff Report

The Roaring Fork Transit Agency brought home three top awards after Thursday’s Colorado Association of Transit Agencies annual conference in Steamboat Springs.

Competing against transit agencies across the state, RFTA received the 2003 CASTA Large Transit System of The Year Award and, along with the city of Glenwood Springs and the city of Aspen, received the top award for Transit Marketing Program of the year. Pitkin County Commissioner Mick Ireland won the 2003 Friend of Transit award.

The CASTA awards committee selected RFTA because of what it called RFTA’s innovative and creative services, its responsiveness to its customers and community needs, and supplying effective and reliable services, according to Jeanne Erickson, CASTA Executive Director.



“This award is a tribute to all the dedicated efforts of our over 200 employees, the thousands of people who use our system on a daily basis and the strong community support that makes public transportation thrive in this region,” said Dan Blankenship, RFTA’s executive director.

The Transportation Marketing Alliance, a collaborative transportation marketing effort between RFTA, the city of Glenwood Springs, the city of Aspen and numerous media outlets and private organizations, won marketing program of the year.




The awards selection committee selected the valley’s Transportation Marketing Alliance alternative transportation program for its innovative regional partnerships, effectiveness of ad messages and design, and ability to leverage resources in a year of scarce public funds.

“In a region that stretches from Rifle, Glenwood Springs to Aspen, we have been fortunate to have both private and public alternative transportation champions join forces to build a united program,” said Cathy Tuttle, who initiated and manages the Valley’s Transportation Marketing Alliance.

“This generated 10 times the exposure for transportation alternatives as each entity could possibly have generated on their own.”

In addition, Mick Ireland, Pitkin County chairperson and Intermountain Transportation Planning Region chairperson, won the 2003 CASTA Friend of Transit Award. This award honors an individual who has made sustained contributions to advance transit services.

Ireland has been responsible for ensuring that transit and transportation alternatives in general have been taken seriously in CDOT transportation planning efforts, according to Jeanne Erickson, CASTA executive director.