Beauty and the Bus

Beauty and the Bus was a social media contest inviting bus riders to share everyday moments of beauty on their bus trips in Greater Boston. The contest shined a spotlight on people’s personal experiences riding the bus and awakened potential for improvement with Gold Standard BRT.

To enter, participants were asked to have fun and be creative by submitting photos or short videos of something beautiful along their bus commute – at the bus stop, inside a bus, inside a bus looking out, or of buses or other commuters.

Participants shared more than 600 beautiful bus photos on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, tagging @BosBRT and using #BosBRT. 

Each week for 10 weeks, one person was awarded a weekend stay at a Westin Hotel and a $150 gift card. The Westin Hotels & Resorts included the Westin Boston Waterfront, Aloft Boston Seaport, and Element Boston Seaport. The grand prize was one night in the presidential suite at the Westin Boston Waterfront and a $200 gift card, awarded to one of the eight winners from the previous 10 weeks. 

A partnership with photographers from Instagram-ers (Igers) of Boston – a group that curates compelling and sharable content through Instagram – contributed to the success of Beauty and the Bus. BostonBRT collaborated with Igers Boston to organize a private bus tour with 20+ Instagram influencers, with an award given to the best photo from the tour. 

The campaign results below, including the top 100 images submitted, show the effectiveness of tapping into the power of visual storytelling to spark new imagination and ideas around transit. 

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