What Sets SWART Apart from Other Transit Authorities

The Southwest Area Regional Transit District was presented with the 2022 Social Media Spotlight Marketing Award by the Southwest Transit Association (SWTA) on July 26 at their Summer University Conference and Training held in Rogers, Arkansas. SWART, who recently celebrated their 10th anniversary as a standalone transit district, was recognized for their service video that was shared on their social media accounts which included Facebook and Twitter. The videos were developed in-house by SWART staff at no cost.
The Mission of the Southwest Transit Association is to strengthen members’ ability to provide public transportation and mobility services across the region through education, communication, and advocacy. Membership to the association includes transit systems from Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.
“We were very excited about this award since other larger transit systems have their own marketing departments and budgets. They develop professional videos and have the funds to do so. Our staff was inspired while listening to other awardees at last year’s SWTA event. They came back to SWART and developed our own video. I am extremely proud of their motivation and initiative to be creative and diligent”, boasts Sarah Hidalgo-Cook, General Manager.
Cynthia Rodriguez, Assistant General Manager, developed the video; Carlos Mallen, Chief Operations Manager; Frank Villalobos, Security & Training Technician; and Juan Rodriguez, I.T. Technician. It was produced in English and Spanish.
Due to SWART’s innovation of producing a video on a shoestring budget, Sarah Hidalgo-Cook, General Manager was asked to be a presenter at the marketing session during the conference which presentation was entitled “Marketing Your System on Little to No Money”. The presentation included all facets of marketing SWART’’s services from public service announcements, bus wrapping, mobility management initiatives, presentations, Facebook Live, and seeking non-federal funds to support such activities.
“We have had to be creative when it comes to marketing our services. Marketing is not an allowable expense under our federal and state programs, so we cannot use these funds to market. Collectively SWART staff finds avenues through creative thinking and planning to market our services” adds Hidalgo-Cook.
SWART provides services in the counties of Dimmit, Edwards, Kinney, La Salle, Maverick, Real, Uvalde, and Zavala. For more information on SWART services, please visit our website at www.paseoswart.org or call our toll-free line at 800-499-1617.