AASHTO Journal - AASHTO’s TransComm Hands out Annual Skills Awards

Seventeen states recently took home at least one award from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials recognizing outstanding work in a range of communications skills, tactics and campaigns.

AASHTO’s Committee on Transportation Communications – known as TransComm – sponsors this annual skills awards competition in order to facilitate the sharing of best practices and to recognize outstanding communications efforts.

The Utah Department of Transportation earned an “Excel Award” for “best integrated campaign with consultant support” for its “Automated Shuttle Pilot Pilot Outreach” effort. The campaign helped educate state residents regarding the pilot test of Utah’s first automated shuttle vehicle.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation also earned an Excel Award for “best campaign without a consultant” for its #DontTrashNC anti-litter campaign.

The NCDOT communication team developed a robust initiative that raised awareness regarding the need to remove trash and debris from state highways, re-igniting interest in the annual volunteer-based Spring Litter Sweep.

The Michigan Department of Transportation took home the “best audio production award” for its “Talking Michigan Transportation” podcast, while the Colorado Department of Transportation earned an award for mobile web application for an innovative smart-phone app that helped its 10 state DOT public information officers and incident command staffs coordinate during three simultaneous historic crises.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet earned an award for best “issues/Crisis Management Communication” for its response to the Brent Spence Bridge Repair project. That project is also a Top 12 finalist in the 2021 America’s Transportation Awards competition.

TransComm also presented awards to the Colorado Department of Transportation for a motorcycle safety campaign, to the Iowa Department of Transportation for an anti-speeding campaign launched at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to the Texas Department of Transportation for their outreach campaign following a major winter storm in early in 2021.