SAN ANTONIO (Oct. 5, 2016) – The South West Transit Association (SWTA) recently presented VIA Metropolitan Transit Authority with two Spotlight Awards for the agency’s marketing campaign to introduce and promote the three routes that comprise VIA’s VIVA service. The “Viva VIVA” campaign was launched in summer of 2016. It creates a distinctive brand for VIVA culture, VIVA missions, and VIVA centro, which draws inspiration from the unique colors and textures of the region. The routes connect the rich cultural, historical, and commercial corridors throughout the city center, reaching south to the San Antonio Missions World Heritage Site, north to the McNay Museum of Art, east to Sunset Station, and west to Centro Plaza at VIA Villa. The routes converge in the heart of downtown, at Alamo Plaza, the most-visited site in Texas.

The “Viva VIVA” campaign was chosen for the First Place Spotlight Award for the category of providers with more than 20 million passenger trips annually. VIA also received the annual Public Transportation Marketing Excellence Award for the VIVA branding and launch efforts developed in-house by its Marketing and Communications team. The award was presented to VIA at SWTA’s Annual Marketing Conference and Spotlight Awards ceremony, held September 26 and 27 in Baton Rouge, LA. Marketing and Communications Director Rachel Benavidez accepted the awards on behalf of VIA.

SWTA is a regional transit association with members from eight states (Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas). SWTA’s mission is to provide a community of education, communication, and advocacy to strengthen its members and their ability to better provide public transportation services and products in the communities they serve.

VIA Metropolitan Transit provides regional multimodal transportation options that connect our community to opportunity, support economic vitality and enhance quality of life throughout our region. VIA serves 14 member cities and the unincorporated areas of Bexar County, operating seven days a week on 90 routes. In 2015, VIA provided 42.2 million rides across the region. VIA’s AAA bond rating reflects the organization’s sound management and financial practices. Visit www.VIAinfo.net for more information. Follow us on www.Facebook.com/VIATransit, www.Twitter.com/VIA_Transit, and www.Instagram.com/VIATransit.