Metrolinx has had to clear some space on the mantel, for two prestigious industry awards.

Though we really should pass the honours on to our passengers and employees.

The Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA) today awarded Metrolinx with a Marketing and Communications Award for its exceptional development and implementation of its GO Transit Etiquette Campaign initiative, along with an Innovation Award for its involvement in the first annual Transit Special Constable (TSC) Women’s Symposium.

The awards were handed out in Toronto.

The GO Transit Etiquette Campaign was launched to put a stop to bad social behavior on public transit and ensure a more comfortable ride to more than 240,000 daily commuters. Implemented in 2016, the #EtiquetteFail social media campaign sparked a viral conversation as GO riders shared their most irritating etiquette fails.

By giving customers a voice on social media, complaints to GO customer service centre dropped by 80%.Building on that success and to keep the conversation going, GO Transit showed its long-term commitment to commuters’ comfort in 2017 by releasing a 100-page book, called ‘Unwritten Rules of Public Transit Etiquette Written Down’. The lighthearted book was based on riders’ feedback on social media and through voting in a series of etiquette fail related online polls.

In all, more than140,000 riders chimed in to tell us of their most nagging pet peeves among fellow passengers. The complaints included those who put their feet up on the seat and even hungry riders who open up smelly egg salad sandwiches on crowded trains and buses.

The soft cover book sold out in just a few hours, and within only three weeks after going live, more than 10,000 e-books had been downloaded. The campaign received both national and local news coverage, and Twitter Canada announced it had the top Twitter poll of 2017.

The Transit Special Constable Women’s Symposium, jointly organized by Metrolinx, the Toronto Transit Commission, and York Regional Transit in August, aimed to strengthen diversity and inclusion within the profession. This unique event allowed participants to share what they enjoyed the most in their profession, what being a woman in the workforce means and how to maintain a healthy work-life balance.

Women in the profession currently represent 15% at Metrolinx. Of the 109 sworn and management officers, 17 are women. Through events like the symposium combined with marketing campaigns, Metrolinx aims to increase female representation to 20% and 25% by end of 2019 and 2024 respectively.

These two awards recognize Metrolinx as a leader in making positive changes in the workplace by fostering diversity and improving customer experience by encouraging proper etiquette.

They’re now on our mantel, and will be dusted often.