TransLink has picked up three awards as part of the Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA)’s annual National Awards Program. CUTA is the leading trade association for Canada’s urban transit industry. Its members include TransLink, Metrolinx (Greater Toronto area), Toronto Transit Commission, OC Transpo (Ottawa), BC Transit, and more.

Every year, CUTA recognizes the efforts and excellence of its members by presenting Corporate Leadership Awards and Individual Leadership Awards.

• CUTA Corporate Leadership Awards increase positive corporate exposure and prestige by highlighting notable initiatives and advancements made by transit systems and business members.
• CUTA Individual Leadership Awards recognize the hard work, dedication and innovation of transit employees and industry advocates.

This year, TransLink’s work using artificial intelligence to improve bus departure time estimates for our customers netted Business Technology Services team an award for innovation. While the Transport 2050 team won the communications and marketing award for its public engagement efforts on a new regional transportation strategy. TransLink planner Sarah Tseng won an individual award of excellence for her leadership in inclusion, diversity, and leadership.

Learn more at cutaawards2020.ca.

Corporate Leadership Award: Innovation

What the award is looking for:

This revised award category includes a new focus on technological innovation. The outcomes may include any of the following that result in increased operational efficiency or cost savings:

• new technical processes or equipment
• new non-technical processes (i.e. training)
• enhancement of existing technical or non-technical processes
• enhancement of existing equipment

Accomplishments of this project:

• Difference between predicted and actual bus time dropped by 74 per cent
• The average customer spends 50 per cent less time waiting at the stop​
• The number of customers left ‘in the dark’ went from 18 per cent to 4 per cent

Corporate Leadership Award: ​Marketing & Communications

What the award is looking for:

This award recognizes an exceptional development and implementation of marketing and communications initiatives including advertising, corporate communications, and public relations.

Accomplishments of this campaign

• The goal was to drive awareness of and participation in Transport 2050, and to build confidence in TransLink and the regional transportation strategy
• The campaign paid off, with nearly four in ten residents aware of Transport 2050​
• The end result was a record-setting engagement: over 158,000 conversations, and 31,000 surveys and 4,000 ideas submitted – setting a new bar for transportation engagement in North America​

​Individual Leadership: Excellence

What the award is looking for:

Awarded to recognize a single major contribution made by an individual, which has resulted in the betterment of a public transit initiative on behalf of their organizations. This could be awarded to an employee of a CUTA member, a volunteer or a community advocate.

Sarah’s accomplishments:

• Sarah was nominated by her peers for her leadership in inclusion, diversity, and equity
• TransLink has come a long way in a few years in large part because of Sarah’s perseverance and tenacity
• These accomplishments were the result of a lot of teamwork and support, but Sarah initially saw the void and started the ball rolling on her own initiative​​