Metro wins national award for ‘Where To?’ campaign
When King County Metro launched its “Where To?” ridership campaign, the goal was straightforward: inspiring more people to ride transit by showing the real-world adventures in King County that are just a bus ride away.
That effort has now earned top national honors — a first place APTA AdWheel Award for Best Comprehensive Campaign to Increase Ridership — in recognition of its blend of creativity, strategy and real-world impact.
The Where To? campaign invited people to reimagine transit as a gateway to life in the region. By transforming Metro’s iconic electronic bus reader boards into destination “thought bubbles,” the campaign spotlighted real riders and real moments, from bike meetups to waterfront adventures, live music and game days.
The campaign ran from September to December 2025, and spanned a variety of marketing mediums, including social media, streaming and cable television, digital and out of home placements, influencer partnerships and community events. Additionally, materials were translated into Spanish and Simplified Chinese to better reach diverse audiences.
The results demonstrate why the campaign earned gold.
- Ridership increased by 4% when the campaign was active.
- Marketing generated 8.6 million impressions.
- Streaming ads achieved an amazing 98 percent rate of people watching until the end.
- Social engagement rose 14 percent.
- It reached tens of thousands of people at public events such as Husky games, light rail station openings and the Salmon Days Festival with information on riding Metro and our services.
We’re thrilled our Where To? campaign demonstrated that when storytelling and strategy ride together, they can move an entire region.
