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Awards are in the air at Dallas Area Rapid Transit lately. Dallas-Ft. Worth Interactive Marketing Association (DFWIMA) March 5 honored an email marketing campaign Pugh and Co. created for DART; and U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta March 11 announced that a $69.3 million Federal Transit Administration grant had been awarded to DART.



The grant will enable DART to continue constructing its 12.5-mile North Central Light Rail Extension on the Red Line from Dallas to Plano. The extension’s been under construction since winter 1999; in July, DART officials plan to open seven stations: Park Lane, Forest Lane, Spring Valley, Galatyn Park, Walnut Hill, LBJ/Central, and Arapaho Center. Additional stations, Downtown Plano and Parker Road, are scheduled to open in summer 2003.



With this grant and a previous commitment of $161.6 million, FTA will have provided $230.9 million of the $333 million Full Funding Grant Agreement it approved Oct. 6, 1999.



Meanwhile, the agency in early December completed a $245 million joint project with Trinity Railway Express commuter rail service between Dallas and Fort Worth, dubbed "East Meets West" in promotional materials.



DFWIMA selected DART’s East Meets West email promotion, which was developed by Pugh and Co., for its "superior results generated from the campaign in addition to the agency’s innovative execution," according to a prepared statement. The effectiveness was measured by comparing results with previous efforts, industry standards and initial campaign goals.



Pugh and Co. delivered the first of two messages to 7,332 permission-based recipients. Seventy-four percent viewed the entire interactive presentation that included flash animation and sound with MP3 streaming. Of the recipients who watched the promotion, 46 percent followed a click to DART’s Web site for additional information, and 37 percent signed on to receive further email promotions.



The first day of the promoted service, more than 11,900 passengers rode TRE between Dallas and Fort Worth.