Taylor Chartrand, My Bulkley Lakes Now
Smithers Town Council voted unanimously to move forward with the application for a $13,000 Transit Marketing Grant.
The problem arose back in December 2017, when the District Transit committee proposed to Smithers Town Council that a change was made regarding transit advertising in the region.
“Our transit system has pretty decent numbers in terms of riders for a rural community,” says Mayor Taylor Bachrach.
“There’s always a desire to make sure as many people are riding as possible.”
The transit marketing strategy will also include additional funding.
Smithers, Telkwa, and the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako (RDBN) will all contribute $2,000 separately and $6,958 will be carried over from the unused 2009 Smithers Transit Gas Tax Funds with the total advertising cost accumulating $26,000.
So where may you ask is this money being spent? Well, in whatever way necessary to get the message out to transit riders.
Funds will go towards:
- Local radio ads,
- Half page ads in the newspaper,
- Poster ads within the bus shelters,
- Cardstock information for pickup at various transit locations,
- 2 temporary billboards outside of Smithers,
- Flyers distributed to residents of the Bulkley Valley,
- Website information with up to date information,
- and Fridge magnets containing transit information
Although Council approved the motion on the Transit Marketing Grant, Town Councillor Phil Brienesse says he wants to ensure this is done properly.
“Originally I thought we were planning on doing something more modest and traditional that didn’t involve websites and such things as billboards. We want the public to stay informed on how they can get from point ‘A’ to ‘B’ and I think this strategy offers flexibility in getting our message out.”
“It’s a great service and we want to make sure people know that. Smithers Transit now serves Witset and Telkwa and we want transit riders to know the service is there,” says Mayor Bachrach.