Last year, the above ad was displayed on the sides of NYC Transit buses and caught the attention of motorists, pedestrians, and bus riders alike. Last month, the ad, produced by Robbett Advocacy Media with input from the Campaign for New York’s Future and Empire State Transportation Alliance, was recognized as one of the best public affairs ads of the year by the American Association of Political Consultants. (Its most recent ad is pretty good, too.)

The AAPC describes their Pollie Awards as “the political and public affairs industry’s Academy Awards.” Sadly, this ad has a similarity to an award-winning movie: it’s just as relevant today. The ad called attention to traffic congestion on NYC’s streets and the need to support an affordable and efficient mass transit system. That need is still present, with just over a month to go before steep fare hikes take effect on the MTA’s transit agencies and little apparent progress towards any sort of resolution.

TSTC congratulates Robbett Advocacy Media on a well deserved honor. Hopefully we’ll soon be congratulating Albany for passing a balanced transit funding plan.