FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 14, 2009

CONTACT:

Jim Wilson, BWATC General Manager, 810.966.4200 jwilson@bwbus.com

Virginia Miller, APTA Senior Manager - Media Relations, 202.496.4816  vmiller@apta.com

Grab Your Camera — Win Great Prizes!

National Video Contest Asks: Why Did You “Dump the Pump?”

WASHINGTON, DC, / PORT HURON, MI —  The American Public Transportation Association is offering great prizes for the country’s best videos about why Americans are “dumping the pump” and riding the bus.

            The deadline to enter the association’s national contest is September 18, and the first 25 qualifying video submissions will each receive a $25 VISA cash card. 

            Videos should answer the question: “Why have you dumped the pump?” Common reasons why people often say they ride the bus include saving money, protecting the environment, cutting dependence on foreign oil, and preserving American quality of life. 

            The grand prize for the video chosen by APTA as having the most overall impact is an iPod touch plus a one-year local bus pass. Second place will win a six-month local bus pass and third place will win a three-month local bus pass.

            Contest prizes awarded in this area will include Blue Water Area Transit bus passes. The local transit agency operates a vintage trolley tour, fixed-route buses, and dial-a-ride buses in Port Huron, Fort Gratiot, and the surrounding communities, a shopper shuttle, and commuter buses to and from Macomb County.

            “I’m hoping we see some local winners. We certainly have the talent here in the Blue Water Area to win this national challenge,” says Jim Wilson, general manager, Blue Water Area Transit.

            To enter the contest, upload your video to YouTube by September 18th, tagging your submission “dump the pump.” Contest officials will find

your video and add it to others at their Dump the Pump YouTube channel. There is no fee to enter the contest and YouTube accounts are also free (go to www.youtube.com for details). For Official Contest Rules, go to www.publictransportation.org/takeusthere/contestrules.html.

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APTA is a nonprofit international association of nearly 1,500 member organizations including public transportation systems; planning, design, construction and finance firms; product and service providers; academic institutions; and state associations and departments of transportation.

BWATC continues a proud tradition of innovation in public transit that has served Port Huron for more than a century. Port Huron was one of the nation’s first communities to operate an electrified transit system in the 1880s and one of the first to operate motor coaches when they became popular in the 1930s. Following an eight-year hiatus, the current bus service began in September 1976. Since then, BWATC has carried more than 20 million riders and continues the tradition of innovation by producing its own compressed natural gas alternative fuel since 1996. 

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   “I’m hoping we see some local winners… we certainly have the talent here in the Blue Water Area to win this national challenge.”

—      Jim Wilson, general manager, Blue Water Area Transit