THE 14TH ANNUAL SHORTY AWARDS

The Shorty Awards honor the best of social media and digital. View this season's finalists!

Industry

See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Auto See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Beauty See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Business to Business See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Consumer Brand See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Education See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Entertainment See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Financial Services See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Fitness, Health, & Wellness
<br>See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Food & Beverage
See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Gaming See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Government & Politics See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Hospitality See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Insurance See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Live Events See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> News & Media See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Non-Profit See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Pets & Animals See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Pharma & Healthcare See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Real Estate See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Restaurants See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Retail & E-Commerce See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Social Activism See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Sports See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Technology See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Television See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Travel & Tourism See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Wine, Beer & Spirits

Strategy & Engagement

See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Brand Partnership See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Call to Action See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Community Management See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Creative Use of Technology See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> CTV/OTT See previous winners and honorees for Insights and Trends here.</a> <a href=https://shortyawards.com/17th/"https://shortyawards.com/category/16th/data-visualization">See previous winners and honorees for Data Visualization here.</a>"> Data & Insights See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Earned Media See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Event & Experiential See previous winners and honorees here.</a>""> Gamification See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Humor See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Innovative Media Buying Strategy See previous winners and honorees here.</a>""> Integration with Traditional Media See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Internal Communications See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> LGBTQ Community Engagement See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Micro-Influencer Strategy See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Multicultural Community Engagement See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Music & Dance See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> On a Shoestring See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Organic Promotion See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Paid & Amplification See previous winner and honorees here.</a>"> Physical and Digital Convergence See previous winner and honorees here.</a>"> Public Service Announcement See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Real Time Response See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> SEO & SEM See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Social Commerce See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Storytelling

Transportation for the People

Finalist in Government & Politics

Entered in On a Shoestring

Objective

In a region synonymous with car culture and freeways, public transit is often thought of as an underdog. And, while some are blithely unaware that Los Angeles is home to the nation's second-largest transit network, an average weekday sees over one million boardings on the LA Metro system. Transit is for everyone, and we aim to use our social media content to counter the narrative that "nobody" rides transit in L.A.

More broadly, we aim to drive consideration of Metro as a transportation option among non-riders, increase frequency of ridership among occasional riders, and garner public support for more transit projects in the region. To do that, we need to debunk some of the myths non-riders hold onto about public transit and overcome some of their objections. We need to build credibility and trust.

Government agencies are often portrayed as faceless bureaucratic entities – and this reputation isn't unjustified. In an age when consumers rank brand authenticity, transparency and trust more important than ever, we want to change that perception and showcase Metro as an agency made up of hardworking, intelligent people who are passionate about the work they do to keep the people of LA County moving 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. ​

Strategy

When the media laughed at Los Angeles for declaring that the 2028 Olympics would be car-free, we clapped back with an animated map showing that every venue is adjacent to an-already-existing rail station (and we have over a dozen additional under-construction stations slated to open prior to the Olympics). That video alone received over 1.5M impressions across platforms.

We followed up with regular updates on the under-construction Metro Transit Center, which will finally connect the LAX airport to the city via rail, and on our ambitious subway along Wilshire Boulevard, underneath some of the most dense neighborhoods in the region.

When commenters repeat the refrain that trains and buses are dirty, we get to work filming our custodial staff hard at work -- but presented in ASMR format, of course.

We regularly feature the friendly faces that riders will encounter across our system, from bus operators to Metro Ambassadors to maintenance staff. We show our buses running through the county in the Los Angeles light that made the film industry immediately lay claim to this region. We leverage humor and tap into local cultural references to us, such as Tyler the Creator's "carrot-colored bus."

Results

2024 was the first year that Metro's ridership returned to prepandemic levels. While obviously that is not only attributable to social media content, our social game is, by all benchmarks, strong. With nearly half a million followers across platforms (70,000 gained in 2024), we claim one of the biggest social media followings among transit agencies in the nation. 

These goodwill posts have generated over 8M impressions over the course of the year and tens of thousands of engagements.

Beyond that, our content has driven a good amount of positive conversation around the agency, as measured by social listening tools. 

Media

Entrant Company / Organization Name

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Links

Entry Credits