PSTA Announces AVA - New Autonomous Vehicle Pilot in St. Pete
Target Audience: The target audience for this event was local and state politicians, community leaders, and local media.
Strategy Objective:To communicate the advantages of autonomous vehicles, PSTA created the brand AVA (Autonomous Vehicle Advantage) and held a press conference with politicians and community leaders in attendance. It was vital to display the advantages of the technology to these focused audiences to increase community support, and to use local media to get the word out about the safety, economic, and environmental benefits of AVA.
Situation Challenge: There has been a hesitancy in adopting autonomous technology, especially when it comes to autonomous vehicles. As PSTA began to explore autonomous technology as a transit solution, it was clear that there was a great deal of work to educate the general public on the value of autonomous vehicles. In November 2020, PSTA launch the AVA Pilot Program. This route features two branded vehicles operating four days a week that takes passengers along the iconic waterfront of St. Petersburg Bayshore Drive.
Results Impact: This press event was a great success. There was a lot of enthusiasm gained from local leadership about this project. PSTA also received overwhelmingly positive coverage. In November, sixty-two news stories on the topic of AVA, one hundred percent of this coverage was positive and garnished a reach of over seventeen million. All of this positive news coverage resulted in a great awareness in the community of PSTA's innovative efforts to utilize Autonomous Vehicles in public transportation.
Why Submit: This entry was submitted because this event marked a huge milestone in agency history; the launch of its first autonomous vehicle project. AVA's press event and demo rides attracted not just the interest of the community but overwhelming support.