Neighborhood Link
Raymond Robinson
303-830-0123 x111
pr@neighborhoodlink.com
www.neighborhoodlink.com
VIA RENEWS COMMUNITY-BASED WEB COMMITMENT WITH NEIGHBORHOOD LINK
VIA is First Transit Company in Nation To Sponsor Free Online Civic Service
SAN ANTONIO & DENVER, May 17, 2000 - VIA Metropolitan Transit has announced its renewed commitment as the nation’s first transit sponsor of Neighborhood Link (www.neighborhoodlink.com), an Internet-based community network that enables San Antonio neighborhoods to create their own free, interactive Web sites. The site allows residents to contact government officials, discuss common concerns with other neighbors, and access community information - such as VIA’s bus schedules and public meeting notices - from one simple online source.
VIA will continue to use Neighborhood Link to provide citizens with easy access to information regarding bus service in their neighborhoods. Each neighborhood Web site contains a quick link to bus routes that service that area. VIA’s 106 routes are arranged by zip code on the Neighborhood Link network so community members can easily find the direct transportation routes to and from their neighborhoods. VIA is the only public transportation company in the nation to have all route maps displayed on neighborhood Web sites in this cutting-edge manner.
VIA also uses the flexibility of Neighborhood Link Web sites to post important meeting notices that affect either the individual neighborhood or the entire city. The transit company’s “banner ads” throughout the San Antonio Neighborhood Link Web site link to specific sections of VIA’s own Web site (www.viainfo.net).
VIA recently worked with the Neighborhood Link program to conduct an Internet chat discussion with neighborhoods on VIA’s light rail proposal - another first for VIA and Neighborhood Link.
“As the first transportation company to sponsor Neighborhood Link, VIA has shown great leadership and innovation in customer and community service,” said Ted Pinkowitz, president and CEO of Neighborhood Link. “Additionally, many of VIA’s counterparts in other cites, including MARTA in Atlanta, RT in Sacramento, and DART in Dallas, are now taking VIA’s lead to see how sponsorships in their cities can benefit their customers.”
John Milam, general manager of VIA, expressed his ongoing enthusiasm for the project. “We are happy to continue our relationship with Neighborhood Link, which has proven to be a valuable and innovative way for us to communicate with and serve our customers in San Antonio,” he said. “More importantly, we are glad to continue our effort to help residents have access to Neighborhood Link as a free, one-of-a kind Internet forum that encourages ongoing civic communication and participation.”
Additional Neighborhood Link sponsors in San Antonio include Tesoro Petroleum Corporation, Fannie Mae, and Southwest General Hospital as the prominent corporate sponsors.
About Neighborhoodlink
Neighborhood Link (www.neighborhoodlink.com) is an Internet-based community network that enables neighborhoods in participating metropolitan areas to create their own free, interactive Web sites. Neighborhood Link, which launched in 1998, becomes fully integrated into communities through partnerships with local governments, neighborhood groups and community organizations, including public schools, libraries, police departments and community newspapers. Denver-based Neighborhood Link serves more than 30 U.S. metropolitan areas and plans to be in the top 50 markets by December 2000. For more information about obtaining free neighborhood Web sites, call toll-free 1-888-241-0123.
