APTA Concludes Marketing, Communications & Customer Experience Workshop
2/27/2025
A record 500 public transportation communicators gathered for APTA’s 2025 Marketing, Communications & Customer Experience Workshop Feb. 23-26, in Long Beach, CA. The workshop served as a forum where attendees could share ideas, exchange information, and network.
Long Beach Transit CEO Kenneth A. McDonald first welcomed attendees to his city. His agency offered attendees a series of technical tours.
APTA Chair MJ Maynard, CEO, Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, addressed attendees, saying that “one of the most powerful aspects of public transit is you, the storytellers. Marketing and communication experts like all of you are the voices behind the messages that resonate with our riders, the public, stakeholders, partners, policy makers, businesses, community leaders, and elected officials. You shape how people see and value public transit, making sure our industry isn’t just noticed, but understood and appreciated.”
APTA President and CEO Paul P. Skoutelas offered opening remarks and thanked attendees for the work they do telling public transit’s story across the nation. He emphasized that how the industry communicates, and what it communicates, is more critical now than ever.
Jaime Kazlo, director of corporate communications, Capital District Transportation Authority, Albany, NY, and chair of APTA’s Marketing, Communications & Customer Experience Committee, commended the communicators’ dedication to connecting to riders and stakeholders, improving the rider experience, and fostering trust in public transit.
Keynote speaker Eli Lipmen, executive director of Move LA, shared examples of how his organization achieves success in its advocacy efforts by building large coalitions to support transformative funding for transit, and how public transit communicators can focus on customers to increase transit support and ridership. He said, “We’re in the business of building community, not customers.”
A special luncheon Feb. 25 recognized 70 First Place Winners of the 2025 AdWheel Awards.
