Why are they useful?
When done successfully, competitions can tap into creative abilities and encourage people to think about concepts such as project alternatives, alignments, modes, densities, heights, land uses, and other transportation issues. They represent active participation as opposed to the passive experience associated with distribution of reading materials.
How are they organized?
The transportation agency will organize the timeframe and rules of the contest as well as provide an incentive or prize. Prizes can include money or greater media attention. At the Miami-Dade MPO, the Communications Department promoted the contest with flyers, mailings, and traditional media outlets. At other agencies, this could be managed by the public outreach or public relations departments or by a project team.
The Miami-Dade MPO staff visits with students interested in the competition to educate them about the topic. The students then put their interpretations to film and create a 30-second English-language PSA. Once selected, winners are asked to translate their PSAs to Spanish and Creole. PSA submittals are evaluated on the overall production value, creativity, clarity of information, inclusion of all relevant information, video and audio quality, presentation effectiveness, and whether the PSA contains the official MPO logo and phone number. The prize includes airing of the winning PSAs on television for a three-month period.
Who participates and how?
Avenues for participation can be opened as necessary. An agency may decide to sponsor a competition for residents in a particular geographic area or from across the state.
Who leads?
Competitions are sponsored by the agency.
What are the costs to an agency?
Costs are minimal and can include production and printing of promotional materials and staff time to organize and judge the competition.
