Transit

 by Stephanie Tresso

Client Missions Turned Personal Passions

Here at MurphyEpson world headquarters, we’re pretty passionate about walking, bicycling and busing (AKA active transportation). Just ask any one of us, really. Because making our communities safer, healthier and smiley-er is our passion.

May is Bike Month, also known as the most wonderful time of the year. (Except of course for National Walking Day, International Bike to School Day and International Walk to School Day… but I digress.) Let us “walk” you through the “why” behind our passion.

While walking and bicycling are great ways to exercise, travel to familiar places, explore new places and stay (or get) healthier, (bonus points for walking or riding to the bus stop) the biggest benefit to walkers or bicyclists is how much fun it can be.

Whether you’re enjoying quality time catching up with a friend or learning new ways to get around town, it’s fun and much less stressful than sitting in traffic. There is also a ton of medical research showing that bicycling and other forms of active transportation improve your health – physically and mentally (British Medical Journal, 2017). And anything that we can do to de-stress is an ah-ma-zing thing in our book.

Kids benefit from some exercise before school, too. That’s why programs like Safe Routes to School with its “walking school buses” and “bike trains” are so popular and effective. Kids enjoy the opportunity to get outdoors, spend time with friends and work off some of that early morning energy.

And, if you still don’t understand the reasoning behind our passion, the US Surgeon General issued a Call to Action in 2015 to encourage more Americans to get walking and incorporate active transportation into daily routines.

Now that you know the secret sauce, join us! Channel your inner Freddy Mercury and sing along,

“I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike!”

in Columbus Marketing / Featured / Marketing in Columbus / Marketing Team / teamME / Transit 0 comments
 by Mindy Justis

Top Reasons Transit Was King at CES 2017

Each year, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) proves to be a major stage for unveiling the latest innovation, gadgets, gizmos and all the things that make the geekiest among us, well, geek out! CES 2017 proved no different, but this time around it had an extra tug on the heart strings of #teamME because of all the talk of a topic near and dear to our world – transit and the technology circling the industry. Technology, like connected and autonomous vehicles (yes, these two are indeed different from one another, but that’s for another day).

 

But it’s also more than that.

  • Technology betters the day of an expectant mother who gets to her prenatal appointment because an integrated transportation data system brought together appointment scheduling and route planning to get her to her doctor.
  • It saves a life when a connected vehicle senses and communicates to the driver about the hazards around them.
  • It raises up the underserved by giving a worker the chance to easily connect with buses, ridesharing services and rapid transit options to safely and reliably get to a job.
  • It gets essential cargo to those that need it most when two semi-trucks connected through technology platoon to move goods more efficiently.

 

In other words, in addition to how we move, it’s why we move. And, what will move a community forward.

This philosophy is why Columbus won the U.S. Department of Transportation Smart City Challenge. Columbus bested 77 other destinations for the opportunity to build an intelligent transportation system like none other in America.

It’s a concept a lot of the major auto manufacturers are taking note of in a big way. Honda – which has its North American hub in the Columbus Region – announced in 2016 its participation in the Smart Columbus project, and then expanded on that announcement at CES 2017 as it unveiled plans for a new Cooperative Mobility Ecosystem. Sure, the system’s goals include congestion reduction and the efficient movement of vehicles, but it all boils down to a theme that resonated at CES 2017: Products that make people happier can both create joy and empower them to better lives every day.

Now, that’s a concept #teamME can get behind!

in Featured / Technology / Transit 0 comments